‘This isn't just silver — it's a story of a man who fell in love with a woman who society deemed unworthy': The large silver sculpture of rutting stags that scandalised Victorian society

As rebellious acts go, commissioning a large silver sculpture of rutting stags may seem tame by Lady Godiva’s standards, but it caused quite a stir in Victorian society. Until recently, it was assumed that the famous centrepiece Stags in Bradgate Park had been melted down and lost forever; recently re-identified, it has been acquired by the National Trust and can now be seen amid the collection at Dunham Massey, Cheshire.

After George Harry Grey, the 7th Earl of Stamford, married circus performer Catharine Cox, the couple was ostracised by Society. Queen Victoria apparently snubbed them at the opera and local gentry did the same at horse-racing events. They retreated from their home, Dunham Massey, to Bradgate Park in Leicestershire where they had a grand new house built, and it was there, in 1855, that the Earl felt inspired to make a landmark commission — his way of showing the world that he was a fighter. Bradgate was, incidentally, the childhood home of Lady Jane Grey a few centuries previously.

‘This isn't just silver — it's a story. A story of a man who fell in love with a woman who society deemed unworthy,' says National Trust curator for decorative arts James Rothwell. 'Ostracised and humiliated, the Earl and Countess finally had enough and left Dunham Massey — but not quietly. They took the family treasures with them to their other houses including Bradgate, the ancient family seat in Leicestershire, where they were welcomed in total contrast to what had happened to them back in Cheshire. It was Bradgate that inspired the Earl to commission one of the most extraordinary silver sculptures of the 19th century.'

Stags in Bradgate Park, modelled by Alfred Brown and crafted by royal goldsmith Hunt & Roskell, was a 'sensation'. It featured in the Illustrated London News and enthralled millions of visitors at the London International Exhibition of 1862 and the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867, inspiring a reaction similar to that garnered by the YBAs in the 1990s.

‘Anyone who’s ever fallen in love with someone others didn’t approve of — whether it was your parents, your friends, or society itself — will feel something when they hear this story,’ adds Emma Campagnaro, Dunham Massey’s property curator. ‘This piece of silver is a monument to love that refused to conform and to the power of art to speak when words fail. The sculpture is not only a technical marvel, with its lifelike depiction of Bradgate Park’s rugged landscape and wildlife, but also a dramatic human story key to the history of Dunham Massey. It speaks of nature, of craftsmanship, and of a couple who chose each other over status and what others thought of them.’

For more information visit the National Trust website