Ass and a foal

It is thought that this early 19th-century limestone relief, together with seven other reliefs, originally came from a now unidentifiable house in the City of London that was about to be demolished. Between 1878 and 1916 they were positioned over fireplaces in 1 Lowther Gardens, Princes Gate, London. The original scheme that included this relief of an ass and foal and the others is unknown.

On acquisition this group of reliefs was thought by the then Keeper of the Department of Architecture and Sculpture, Eric Maclagan, to be related to the work of John Bacon the Elder (1740-1799), but he considered them to be probably early 19th century. The original contexts are unknown.