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. Signed on the right-hand edge of bust at the bottom. Damaged in a fire in 1893; the signature damaged by a significant break and loss of a section of stone. A hairline crack in the neck of the sitter and others on the proper-left side of the bust. Among his many other benefactions, Sir William Armstrong was one of the chief supporters of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (the Lit and Phil) over many years. In the 1850s, he gave the Society a significant bequest of books from the library of his father, Alderman Armstrong. In 1859, when he was one of the Society’s Vice-Presidents, Armstrong provided substantial funds for the construction and fitting out of a lecture room for the Society, which opened in 1860 (Robert Spence Watson, The History of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1793-1896), London 1897, p. 131). The bust of Armstrong was clearly commissioned to commemorate this extremely generous gift. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer exhibition of 1861, described as ‘Sir William Armstrong, K.C.B., to be placed in the Philosophical Institution, Newcastle-upon-Tyne’. Munro 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). On 8 February 1893, the morning after an event at the Lit and Phil to celebrate the Society’s centenary, a fire broke out, damaging the building and its collections, including Munro’s bust of Sir William Armstrong. The damage is particularly noticeable on the proper right side around the signature, but fire damage may also have contributed to a general degradation of the surface, so that an area such as the hair appears now very much softer and less finely modelled than it does in the other version of this portrait at Cragside (NT 1231038). The second version was presumably ordered by Sir William Armstrong for himself at the time of the commission, along with a third version, which Vickers Armstrong presented to the Lit and Phil as a substitute for the present bust, after it had been damaged in the fire. The damaged portrait was in turn presented by the Lit and Phil to the National Trust for display at Cragside in 1977. Jeremy Warren March 2022

Provenance: Commissioned by the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1860; exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1861, no. 1101; given by the Literary and Philosophical Society, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in December 1977.

Marks and inscriptions: On bust at front: : ARMSTRONG On proper right edge, towards bottom: : ALEX MUN[RO]

Text from the National Trust website

Object description
Type: Sculpture
Location: Cragside, Rothbury, Northumberland
Material: Marble
Artist: Alexander Munro (1825–1871)
Date: c. 1860-1861

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: 250
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.

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.

Provenance: Given with the property to the National Trust in 1941 by Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Bt (1870 – 1958)

Marks & inscriptions: Around sculpture: Reads – PAULINE TREVELYAN 1816-1866 SHE ENCLOSED & DECORATED THIS HALL ON THE ADVICE OF JOHN RUSKIN

Text from National Trust website

Object description
Type: Sculpture
Location: Wallington Hall, Northumberland
Material: Marble
Artist: Alexander Munro (1825–1871)
Date: 1855-56

Image Details
Date: 19 October 2025
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Telephoto Camera 52mm ƒ/2.4
Focal Length: 52mm
Aperture: ƒ/2.4
Shutter Speed: 1/60s
ISO: 500
Licensing: Image of a National Trust asset. This image cannot be licensed.