Reduced life-size full figure of Narcissus standing contraposto, leaning on spear, gazing downwards. Head turned left, ringletted hair in ribbon. Leaning left on spear held by flexed left arm against draped tree stump, narcissi at foot. Ovoid base.

William Theed the Younger was a versatile and prolific sculptor who worked for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on the additions to Buckingham Palace and Osborne House.

The youthful hunter Narcissus, much admired for his beauty, paused one day by a fountain and fell in love with his own reflection. Unable to speak to his beloved, he shed tears which disrupted the vision, and eventually he died of a broken heart. A narcissus flower can be seen against the tree stump.

From Victoria & Albert: Art & Love.