Stags in Bradgate Park, commissioned by 7th earl of Stamford after his marriage to an ex-circus performer, rediscovered decades after it was deemed lost
A stunning silver sculpture inspired by the defiant love between a Victorian aristocrat and a former circus performer has been rediscovered after decades during which it was thought to have been lost or melted down.
The work, crafted by royal goldsmiths and depicting two rutting stags, had a sensational reception when it was seen by millions at exhibitions in London and Paris in the 1860s. It featured in the pages of the Illustrated London News.
George Harry Grey, the 7th earl of Stamford, commissioned the piece in 1855 after “locking horns” with high society, the National Trust said, by marrying Catherine Cox, who had earned a living as a bareback rider.
Before meeting and falling in love with Grey, Cox had performed with two sisters, described in one account as “the raven-ringletted beauties”, at Astley’s circus. Their act culminated in leaping through hoops of fire.
