Soane displayed this bust of his celebrated fellow Royal Academician and friend in a place of honour in the front hall of his house. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1830 and was described as 'posthumous'. Lawrence died on 7th January 1830 and the Academy Exhibition opened in late April. Soane probably acquired this marble immediately after the exhibition. A cast of this bust (SM M695) forms part of the arrangement in the dome area at the heart of the 'museum' at the back of the house. There is another copy of the plaster bust in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accompanied by correspondence that indicates that the bust is based on 'a cast taken from the head of Sir Thomas, a few hours after his death, by a particular friend, of course a correct likeness not only of his face but of his phrenology'.