John Bell (sculptor)

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"Babes in the Wood" by John Bell, ca 1842. Norwich Castle.

"The Eagle Slayer" by John Bell. This cast iron version, exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851, is now held at the Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green, London.

John Bell 1811 - 1895 was a British sculptor, born in Hopton, Suffolk.

Bell moved from Suffolk to London to attend the Royal Academy Schools in 1829. His "Babes in the Wood" was exhibited at the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1839. Marble versions are held at Osborne House, and Norwich Castle.

In 1844 he entered his "Eagle Slayer" and "Jane Shore" in the competition held for sculpture for the new Houses of Parliament. A cast-iron version was produced for the Great Exhibition of 1851, where is stood under a canopy surmounted by the eagle. This version is now in the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

For Coalbrookdale he created the "Deerhound hall table" and "Andromeda which was bought by Queen Victoria and is now a feature of the gardens at Osborne House.

Una and the Lion, inspired by Edmund Spencer's The Faerie Queene was also exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851, and reproduced in miniature in parian porcelain by Minton. The full scale model was placed in the Crystal Palace which burned down in 1936.

His best-known work is the Crimean monument to the "Brigade of Guards" at the Junction of Pall Mall and Waterloo Place London.

For the Albert Memorial he created the group representing America.