Henry Hugh Armstead RA (British, 1828-1905): A carved marble bust of Florence Boyce

Footnotes

Provenance
Florence Boyce, thence by family descent to her great granddaughter.

Henry Hugh Armstead was an English sculptor influenced by the work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He lived in Bloomsbury, London, and was closely with fellow artists William Dyce and George Gilbert Scott, with whom he worked on the Albert Monument. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1875 and full member in 1880.

Although Armstead's artistic career was primarily shaped in his father John's workshop, where he worked as a heraldic chaser, he later pursued formal training at the Government School of Design at Somerset House from the age of thirteen. Initially employed by the silversmiths Hunt and Roskell, he transitioned to sculpture in 1863. Due to the general lack of recognition for his metalwork, he trained under sculptor Edward Hodges Baily at the Royal Academy Schools. His sculptural talent soon caught the attention of Gothic Revival architect George Gilbert Scott, leading to major commissions, including the relief panels and sculptural decorations at the Palace of Westminster, the Albert Memorial, and the Colonial Office (now the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) on Whitehall. His work foreshadowed the New Sculpture movement, which emphasized realism over classicism.

Beyond monumental sculpture, Armstead also contributed illustrations to books and magazines and played an influential role in the Royal Academy, where he was elected a Royal Academician in 1879. His Diploma Work, 'The Ever-Reigning Queen', exemplifies his mastery of relief sculpture. Devoted to his art throughout his life, he exhibited widely and taught at the RA Schools for many years. Armstead passed away in London in 1905, leaving behind a legacy of sculptural excellence.

Florence Boyce was the daughter of Matthias Boyce, whose brother and sister (Florence's uncle and aunt) were the artists George Price Boyce and Joanna Mary Boyce. The sculptor Henry Hugh Armstead was Florence Boyce's aunt Joanna Boyce's brother-in-law (Armstead's wife Sarah was a sister of Joanna Boyce's husband Henry Tamworth Wells). George Boyce, Wells and Armstead are known to have socialised together and with other Pre-Raphaelite and academic artists, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, which is likely how Armstead came to be commissioned to produce this portrait. The bust depicts Florence at the age of 17 or 18.

Exhibited
The Royal Academy, London, 1876, no.1476.

For further information on Armstead and this work - see 'A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors In Britain, 1660-1851', Henry Moore Foundation online.