{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O66222"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O66222/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021NA4566/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021NA4566/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2021NA4566","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM6998","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O66222/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O66222","accessionNumber":"A.8:1-1964","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"Catherine, Lady Stepney (d. 1845) as Cleopatra","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Lady Stepney was a novelist and London society hostess for writers and artists. Here she is depicted as Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. The asp, which Cleopatra used to take her life by suicide, coils around her right arm. A letter to her from David Wilkie (1785-1841), dated 27 April 1836, records the installation of this bust at the Royal Academy. 'The bust of your Ladyship is placed on the right hand as you enter near the centre between the door and the window, Sir Francis Chantrey having taken as much care as he could of it.  If the bust is adapted for that light, it is in other respects an excellent situation and on a level with the eye'. The bust was bequeathed to the Museum by a descendant of the sitter. A wax portrait of Lady Stepney, by the same artist, is also in the V&A.\r\nIt is made by Richard Cockle Lucas (1800-1883), who is mainly known as a sculptor in wax and ivory, but he also worked in glass, marble and bronze, as well as being a painter. Lucas began his career as a sculptor as an apprentice to his uncle, who worked as a cutler in Winchester, carving knife handles. He joined the Royal Academy Schools in 1828 and studied under Richard Westmacott.","physicalDescription":"Marble bust of Lady Stepney as Cleopatra, wearing a low cut gown, with her hands crossed and a snake encircling her wrist. The sitter's head is turned to her left. Ringlets escape from below a cap. The eyeballs are blank. She wears a low cut gown. Her hands are crossed. A snake encircles her left wrist. She wears a ring on her fourth finger of the left hand","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Lucas, Richard Cockle","id":"A3517"},"association":{"text":"sculptor","id":"x43862"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Marble","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Entertainment & leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2021NA4566","2006AM6998"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"22","id":"THES49843"},"free":"","case":"PL1","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bust","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1836","earliest":"1831-01-01","latest":"1840-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by Miss Dorothy Manners","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"67.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"52","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"23","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"22/03/13","earliest":"2013-03-22","latest":"2013-03-22"},"part":"Socle","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Socle dimension taken at time of loan to the exhibition Cleopatra: the Eternal Diva.","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Bequeathed by Dorothy Manners. (Given by Miss A. Toomer, Wayside, Bickwell Valley, Sidmouth, Devon in accordance with the wishes of the late Miss Dorothy Manners in 1964. At the donor's (Miss Toomer) request this object and A.9, 10 and 11-1964 are to be labelled as bequeathed by Miss Dorothy Manners. Miss Manners was a descendant of Lady Stepney.)","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bust, marble, of Lady Stepney, by Richard Cockle Lucas, English, ca. 1836","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Bilbey, Diane with Trusted, Marjorie, <u>British Sculpture 1470 to 2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum</u>, London, 2002, pp. 327-8, cat. no. 496"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Graves, A., <u>The Royal Academy of Arts. A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904</u>, (8 vols), 1905-1906, V, p. 106 (no. 1145)"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gunnis, R., <u>Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851</u>, (revised edition, first published London 1953), London, 1968, p. 245"},{"reference":{"text":"Walker, Susan and Peter Higgs, <i>Cleopatra of Egypt: from History to Myth</i>, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001","id":"AUTH347949"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"<i>Royal Academy of Arts Bicentenary Exhibition, 1768-1968</i>, London : Royal Academy of Arts, 1968","id":"AUTH354496"},"details":"no. 232","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Stepney (Lady)","id":"N1440"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"snake","id":"AAT17574"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Richard Cockle Lucas (1800–83)\r\nLady Catherine Stepney (1778–1845) as Cleopatra\r\nAbout 1836\n\r\nLady Stepney was a novelist who hosted parties in London for writers and artists. Here, Lucas portrayed her as Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, with the poisonous asp (snake) that she used to take her own life coiling around her forearm. Lucas was a British sculptor and photographer known for his eccentricity. He exhibited many sculptures at the Royal Academy, including this bust in 1836.\n\r\nLondon\r\nMarble","date":{"text":"2021","earliest":"2021-01-01","latest":"2021-12-31"}},{"text":"Richard Cockle Lucas 1800–83\r\nLady Catherine Stepney as Cleopatra\r\nAbout 1836\r\n\r\nLady Stepney (1778–1845) was a novelist and London society hostess. Here she is depicted as Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, with the asp that Cleopatra used to take her own life coiling around her right arm. The bust was bequeathed to the Museum by one of her descendants.\r\n\r\nLondon\r\nMarble\r\nMuseum no. A.8-1964 \r\nBequeathed by Miss Dorothy Manners","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["A.8:1-1964"],"accessionNumberNum":"8","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":1964,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LV7843","2022NG1328","2023NM9863"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-19","recordCreationDate":"2002-06-20","availableToBook":false}}