This plaster stauette is a much reduced copy of the original marble sculpture, "The Rape of the Sabines" by Giambologna (1529-1608). The marble original was sculpted between 1574 and 1582 in Florence. Small copies such as the one owned and photographed by Talbot were not uncommon in country houses such as Lacock Abbey.
An early example of photographic combination printing, the photographic negative of the stauette was combined with a second photographic copy of a decorative lace border to produce a third photographic print showing the stauette and lace border seemlessly combined. A print showing the original lace border without the statuette has survived.
