Laurens van der Meulen

[1] He is best known there for having created the statue of King James II now in Trafalgar Square, together with the Flemish sculptor Peter van Dievoet, while working in the workshop of Grinling Gibbons.

[3] He started training as a sculptor in the workshop of Pieter van der Stock and was registered in the Mechelen Guild of Saint Luke on 10 November 1665.

Other experienced Flemish sculptors such as Arnold Quellin (the son of Artus Quellinus II), John Nost, Anthony Verhuke and Peter van Dievoet also worked in Gibbon's London workshop as "servants", i.e. collaborators.

[2] Van der Meulen returned in 1687 to his home town and was admitted as a master sculptor of the Mechelen Guild of Saint Luke in 1689.

[5] He sculpted statues and was active as a painter, but was mainly a creator of decorative sculptures such as picture and mirror frames, allegorical medallions, tables, etc.

[3] He created in his decorative works complicated trophies, deeply carved and superimposed, with motifs of foliage, flowers, birds and crustaceans sometimes accompanied by putti.