A rare Victorian sculpture has been saved from export and returned to its original home.
Following a successful £280,000 fundraising campaign, the portrait medallion of Florence and Alice Campbell (1857) by French sculptor Henri de Triqueti has been acquired by the Trustees of the Faringdon Collection and will now be displayed at Buscot Park in Oxfordshire.
A descendant of Alice Campbell also contributed to the fundraising effort, ensuring the piece remains in the UK.
James Henderson, great-grandson of financier Alexander Henderson who later owned Buscot Park, said: "I feel like we’ve brought Florence and Alice home.
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"Florence is buried in the Buscot churchyard, with a plain slab and just her initials.
"This carving is from a happier time."
The sculpture, designated a national treasure in November 2025, was placed under a temporary export bar by the UK government on the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Cultural Interest, giving UK institutions the chance to acquire it.
It was commissioned by Robert ‘Tertius’ Campbell, an Australian entrepreneur who purchased Buscot Park in 1859, and depicts his daughters Florence and Alice as children.
Dr Amy Lim, curator, said: "Buscot Park is renowned for its collection of Victorian paintings, but we have far fewer sculptures, and until now, nothing that related to the Campbell family.
"This beautiful sculpture is the most important acquisition for the Faringdon Collection since 2013.
"It will help us to tell visitors about an important chapter in Buscot Park’s history, as well as the tragic life of Florence Bravo, and the story of Victorian art."
The sculpture stands nearly two metres tall and features the sisters holding a Greek vase containing a lily, symbolising purity, while grape vines and convolvulus twine around the medallion, symbolising charity, and the bond between the sisters.
Tragically, Florence Bravo became infamous as the widow at the centre of the 1876 unsolved murder of her second husband, Charles Bravo.
Although never indicted, the scandal overshadowed her life, and she died aged 33, buried in an unmarked grave at Buscot church.
Mr Henderson said: "Triqueti was a very skilled sculptor and had a big following here and in France in the mid-19th century.
"In this piece he’s really caught the affection of the two young sisters for each other and their interlocking of hands.
"Triqueti was quite forward-thinking in his composition and hugely influential.
"This is a stunning piece of art and I’m thrilled and grateful that we have managed to raise the funds for it to come here."
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