The Reception
We do not know who the sculptor of this work is, although one possibility is Odoardo Tabacchi (1836 – 1905), an Italian who produced several monumental sculptures of public figures, and later concentrated smaller, figurative sculpture, especially naturalistic genre scenes.
This work would fall into that latter category, featuring as it does a woman attending a ball, holding a dance card in her left hand (used to record her partners for the dances for the evening). She is wearing an evening dress, carrying a fan, and rising from a chair, head slightly bowed presumably to greet someone. The sculpture is very detailed, showing the embroidery on her dress, the detail of her fan, and her coiffed hair set with pearls.
When Merton purchased this sculpture, he placed it in the Main Hall, at the entrance to the galleries.
