Philip James Bailey by Albert Toft

Toft (1862-1949) was a prominent figure in the world of sculpture and had a national reputation to match his local profile. He was selected by Wallis for the choicest of the Holbrook commissions, the opportunity to model Philip James Bailey from life. Wallis urged that this be done with great speed 'before any weakness of health should happen to him.' Bailey was too infirm to travel to London so he sat for the sculptor in his own home during mid October 1900. The work was cast at the J.W. Singer foundry in Frome whilst the granite pedestal was supplied by Gray & Son of Glasgow. The bust and a relief panel for the plinth were being cast in September 1902 when Toft received news of Bailey's death. Nevertheless, in his portrait the steady gaze and slightly knitted brow of the eighty year-old poet betray no signs of the frailties of old age.

Bailey was the illustrious author of Festus, first published in 1839 with a second, much longer edition of almost thirteen thousand lines appearing in 1845. In Britain, eleven editions had been issued by 1901, whilst there were approximately thirty in the United States. By the time of the poet's death it existed in seven different versions and reached nearly forty thousand lines. Toft's relief sculpture is illustrative of the heavenly close of the poem and has the inscription: 'Festus: Ah, blessed ones, come to me, / Are ye all here too with me? / Angels: All. / Festus: It is heaven.'