Léonard Morel-Ladeuil

He studied further under JJ Fuchre and then attracted the notice of the comte d'Orsay and the duc de Morny, through whose recommendation the French government, desirous of popularizing the idea of the new Imperialism, commissioned him to produce the Empire Shield.

He was encouraged~ nevertheless by a foreign dealer in Paris, Marché, who employed him on statuettes, mainly religious in character, until 1859, when Messrs Eikington, in view of the Great Exhibition of 1862, engaged him to work in Birmingham for three years in repoussé, assuring him a free hand.

Then after "The Months" came another masterpiece, the "Helicon Vase", in steel, silver, and gold, priced at oco, which in course of time was presented by the ladies and gentlemen of the royal house to Queen Victoria on her first jubilee.

After putting forth his reliefs "The Merry Wives of Windsor," "The Merchant of Venice," and "Much Ado about Nothing," in view of his failing health he retired to Boulogne, where he died of angina pectoris on 15 March 1888.

His total work, apart from the productions of his youth, numbers 35 pieces, which richly reveal his elegant and refined fancy and grace, his feeling for correct and dainty ornament, and his love of pure art marked by an elevated if rather sentimental taste and a noble style.