The Relief of Lucknow: Henry Hugh Armstead’s Outram Shield (c. 1858–62)

Abstract

This article examines, in unprecedented close detail and for the first time, in an imperial studies context, a significant piece of Victorian silver testimonial sculpture. Challenging the previous separation of the fields of silver sculpture studies, Victorian sculpture studies, and studies of the Indian Mutiny and its aftermath, the article suggests that Armstead’s shield has much to teach us about the precise contour and characters of mid-Victorian realism, eclecticism, historicism, and cosmopolitanism.