(1804-1891)The Scottish sculptor John Steell was born in Aberdeen, studied at Edinburgh and then at Rome, a member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1829. He came to notice with his Alexander taming Bucephalus, but his works are predominantly portrait statues and busts. Most of his major works are in Scotland but some are in England also.

Around 1838 he was appointed as Sculptor to Her Majesty the Queen, a post which was later recognised as part of the Royal Household in Scotland. Steell died on 15 September 1891 and is buried in an unmarked grave in Edinburgh's Old Calton Cemetery.

The present statue was purchased from fund raised by public subscription to commemorate Dalhousie Institute in 1870, the statue was transferred to that building, where it remained until its removal to the Victoria Memorial Hall. Full-length standing figure, with right foot advanced and face turned slightly to the left.

A long cloak over the shoulders leaves visible a morning coat with the star and ribbon of the order of the Thistle. The left hand holds open a roll of paper, to which the right hand is pointing.