Queen Victoria, portrait bust, 1862.

Parian ware bust on a black wooden base manufactured by Brown-Westhead Moore Co after the original marble bust of 1855 by Joseph Durham RA. This is one of a pair of busts of Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and her consort, Prince Albert (1819-1861). Victoria was crowned Queen of Great Britain and Ireland at Westminster Abbey in 1838 (a year after her accesion to the throne) and became Empres of India in 1876. She was the longest serving English monarch, reigning from 1837 until her death in 1801. Parian ware porcelain was introduced in about 1840 by the English firm of Copeland & Garrett, in imitation of Sevres biscuit, and became a popular Victorian medium. Its name is derived from its resemblance to Parian marble.