In the winter of 1879 while working on a model of this statuette, the artist, Ronald Gower, sent Disraeli a photograph of the work of which he wrote, 'everybody to whom I have shown your photograph (...) agree that it is the first satisfactory likeness that has been produced of your friend and servant'. The statuette was much liked by Queen Victoria and this is probably the plaster version that she received from the artist in 1879. Disraeli was a prolific writer but he devoted most of his life to a career in politics. He was considered by Queen Victoria one of her most loyal supporters and Prime Ministers and granted him the title of Earl of Beaconsfield in 1876. In 1878 he was appointed to the Order of the Garter as a reward for his diplomatic achievements and successful intervention during the Congress of Berlin earlier that year. Disraeli is shown seated on an armchair, in a meditative pose, with his head turned and looking down, and with his arms and legs crossed. He is wearing an embroidered tail coat, adorned with the insignia of Order of the Garter. It has been suggested that Disraeli has been depicted as he appeared at the Congress of Berlin. Gower painted the plaster black to resemble bronze.