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PROMINENT among the lions of the shining hour in the reign of good Queen Vic were, would you believe, sculptured lions. Sir Titus Salt, a lion in his own right, had four in his model village of Saltaire. Landseer’s Lions in Trafalgar Square are undoubtedly the most famous of the lot but many from the period still adorn civic squares, for example those outside Leeds City Hall, by William Keyworth. They were a heraldic image to represent much admired Victorian virtues of strength and bravery. Sir Edwin Landseer, famous painter of adorable dogs and well-groomed horses, wasn’t first choice to sculpt the four lions, the most popular of London’s statues. The commission originally went to Thomas Milnes, from Tickhill near Doncaster. In his youth Milnes went to London, found work with a marble mason, and from 1841 attended the Royal Academy. He became an in-demand sculptor with his acclaimed 1848 marble statues of Wellington at the Tower of London and of Nelson, in 185 ....