Sculpture, marble; portrait bust of Sir William Armstrong; Alexander Munro (1825-71); 1861. A marble portrait bust by Alexander Munro of Sir William Armstrong (1810-1900), the engineer, industrialist and builder of Cragside. One of two very similar portraits of Armstrong by Munro at Cragside, this version is in the form of a tapering herm set upon a base.

A marble portrait bust of Sir William Armstrong by Alexander Munro (1825-71). The bust depicts Armstrong looking slightly to his right, the bust section in the form of a herm, placed upon a separately made tapering base. Signed and dated on the back. This is one of two versions at Cragside of the portrait by Munro of Sir William Armstrong. The other (NT 1230984) is in fact the prime version, commissioned by the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1860 in commemoration of Armstrong’s munificent gift of a new lecture hall for the Society, and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1861. That version was damaged in a fire in 1893 and was presumably put into store, from whence it was presented in December 1977by the Lit and Phil Society to the National Trust, for display at Cragside. However, of the two versions at Cragside, this version is of considerably finer quality than the one formerly in the Literary and Philosophical Society, even when account is taken of damage from the 1893 fire. The modelling of the hair for example is finer. Sir William Armstrong presumably asked the sculptor to make another version for himself, as well as one for his company. That third version is today in the Literary and Philosophical Society (Inv. A.2019.11), given by Vickers Armstrong as a replacement for the version damaged by fire. Munro was evidently proud of his achievement with this particular portrait. Her sent to his friend Pauline, Lady Trevelyan, chatelaine of Wallington Hall, a photograph of the head, ‘which some people consider the best Bust I have done’ (Katharine Macdonald, ‘Alexander Munro: Pre-Raphaelite Associate’, in Benedict Read and Joanna Barnes, eds., Pre-Raphaelite Sculpture. Nature and Imagination in British Sculpture 1848-1914, London 1991, pp. 46-65, p. 62). Jeremy Warren March 2022

Provenance: Armstrong collection. Transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 – 1987).

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Sculpture
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Marble
Artist: Alexander Munro (1825–1871)
Date: 1861

Image Details
Date: 21 April 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Telephoto Camera 52mm ƒ/2.4
Focal Length: 52mm
Aperture: ƒ/2.4
Shutter Speed: 1/50s
ISO: 400
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.