A White Marble Bust of "Hypnos"
by John Bell (1812 - 1895), signed J. Bell and dated 1880. Inscribed to the
front "Sleep Gentle Sleep"

As so often, Bell looked for the unusual for this rendition of the Greek
mythological figure, the winged youth, Hypnos (sleep), who, with the bearded
Thanatos were children of the Nyx (night). In mythology they were
responsible for removing the deceased (particularly fallen warriors) to
Hades and are represented on several black and redvases from the Archaic
period. John Bell would have known well these sources and could conceivably
have been contemplating his own mortality in this, one of his last surviving
works.

Height: 20.5 inches (52 cms)

Born in Hepton, Suffolk, UK, educated at Catford and at the Royal Academy
Schools in 1829, John Bell was one of the most controversial and enigmatic
of the sculptors of the late 19th Century. The Literary Gazette was moved to
comment in 1844 on "The Archer" and "Jane Shore" that as "a performance so
striking and masterly that it fixes the attention not only by the novelty of
the subject but by the ability of the treatment". He designed a number of
the objects for the Great Exhibition including fish knives, a door stop in
the form of Cerberus, and a match box in the shape of a Crusader's alter
tomb, which the "Art Union" were moved to comment; (we) " were unable to
appreciate it". The Crimea monument in Pall Mall followed in 1861 but again
the Art Journal "failed signally" to like it and other critics said it
"looked best in a fog". He worked with Blashfield, and his sculptures
"Comedy" and "Una and the Lion" were produced in Parian by Copeland.

Hypnos can be seen at Intaglio at the NEC in November.
See http://www.bathgreen11.freeserve.co.uk/intaglio.htm