My Queen - 'Pure in her Spirit, this Maiden I Love'

Born in Islington, London, Drury was raised in Oxford where his father owned and inn. He attended Oxford School of Art and then the National Art Training School, South Kensington (1877-1881) where he was taught by F W Moody and then by the French sculptor Jules Dalou. Between 1881-5 Drury worked in Paris with Dalou and on his return to London he worked briefly as an assistant to Sir Edgar Boehm. He was a key artist of the New Sculpture movement and during his long career he completed many architectural groups and figure pieces. His major commissions for architectural and monumental works including groups for Leeds City Square, the front of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Vauxhall Bridge and the War Office Building, Whitehall. The verse is taken from an anonymous Victorian ballad. Drury exhibited a cast of My Queen at the Society of Medallists in 1898.