Described in 1931 as 'one of the most authentic of the English carving sculptors,' Herbert William Palliser fused formal Edwardian and sleek Art Deco styles in his work. He first studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and the Slade, before going on to teach at the Royal College of Art (The Art of Carved Sculpture, v 1, p61). While his commissions included the Franklin D Roosevelt tablet in Westminster Abbey and Lascar War Memorial in Calcutta, his exhibited works were mainly portrait busts and animals. This particular bust is closely related to a marble sculpture shown at the Royal Academy by Palliser in 1921, and also appears in a photograph (now in the V&A) submitted to William Kineton Parkes as part of a 1922-26 survey done on contemporary English sculptors.