Alfred George Stevens

Overview
Extended Catalogue Entry

by Reuben Townroe
plaster cast of death-mask, 1875
14 3/4 in. (375 mm)
Purchased, 1905
Primary Collection
NPG 1413

Sitterback to top

Alfred George Stevens (1818-1875), Sculptor and designer. Sitter in 4 portraits, Artist of 1 portrait.

Artistback to top

Reuben Townroe (1835-1911), Artist. Artist of 1 portrait.

Linked publicationsback to top

Ormond, Richard, Early Victorian Portraits, 1973, p. 431
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 588

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1875back to top

Current affairs

Samuel Plimsoll, a back-bench Liberal MP, campaigns for measures to prevent the practice of overloading unseaworthy vessels and claiming insurance. The Plimsoll Line is established; a line drawn on ships, it denotes the maximum legal load a cargo ship is allowed to carry.
The Public Health Act, the work of Richard A. Cross, sets down in detail the responsibilities of local authorities in terms of public health.

Art and science

Anthony Trollope's masterpiece The Way We Live Now is published after serialisation. Containing over 100 chapters, the complex plot, following the fortunes of sham financier Augustus Melmotte, tackles the commercial, political and moral hypocrisy of the age.

International

Disraeli purchases nearly half the total shares in the Suez Canal Company from the bankrupt Egyptian Khedive, Ismail Pasha, securing a controlling interest in the trading route. Since Parliament was not in session at the time, Disraeli borrowed £4 million from the banking family Rothschilds, attracting much criticism from Parliamentary opponents, although he won popularity from the Queen and the public.

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