The Art Union of London was established in 1836 and was intended to provide an affordable and more accessible way for people to enjoy work by modern artists. As its charter declared, ‘[The Art Union] has for its object the cultivation of a purer taste in matters of the fine arts, and their general advancement in the British empire, by the encouragement of native artists and an improved taste on the part of the public.’ For a small annual fee subscribers were entitled to choose a large engraving and the right to enter a competition for an original painting. In addition to pictures the Union began to offer medallions, bronze statuettes and, as presented here, sculptures made of ‘Parian Ware’, a type of unglazed porcelain which was intended to resemble marble.