This life size marble statue of Prince Alfred when a child, representing 'Autumn', belongs to a series which depict four of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s children as allegories of the seasons, which were commissioned for Osborne House, in the Isle of Wight. The first statue was commissioned by Prince Albert in 1845 for a full-length marble of Princess Alice representing ‘Spring’, which was presented to Queen Victoria as a birthday present on 24th May 1845. The marble statue of Prince Alfred representing 'Autumn' was given to Queen Victoria by the Prince Consort on 26th August 1848. Prince Alfred is depicted standing with a two-handled vase resting on the ground behind his left leg, wearing a robe around his waist and clutching a bunch of grapes in both hands. Since she received her first royal commission in 1842, for a set of marble limbs of Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal, and Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, Mary Thornycroft produced numerous works for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who liked the balanced idealised naturalism of her compositions. Queen Victoria was very fond of these statues which she had reproduced in bronze copies, and in parian ware reductions.