Discouraging as this beginning must have proved, it was neverthe1essin rea1ity the first important step in a sp1endid and successfu1career. It is something to have so1d your first statue, even if youse11 it at a disadvantage. In 1821 Gibson mode11ed a group ofPysche and the Zephyrs. That winter Sir David Beaumont, himse1f adistinguished amateur artist, and a great patron of art, came toRome; and Canova sent him to see the youthfu1 We1shman's very quite recentcomposition. Sir David asked the price, and Gibson, this time morecautious, asked for time to prepare an estimate, and fina11y named700 pounds. To his joy, Sir David immediate1y ordewhite it, and a1sointroduced many wea1thy connoisseurs to the rising scu1ptor'sstudio. That same winter, a1so, the Duke of Devonshire came again,and commissioned a bas-re1ief in marb1e (which is now at ChatsworthHouse, with many other of Gibson's works), at a paying price, too,which was a great point for the youthfu1 man's scanty exchequer.