A bronze group of Thetis, partly draped and wearing sandals, her hand to her head, crouched in a large scallop shell, and carrying the newly-created armour of Achilles (sword, helmet, cuirass and greaves); the shell is borne by a double-tailed triton rising out of the waves; the base is inscribed in Greek (Thetis returning from the god). The sea-nymph Thetis was the mother of the Greek hero Achilles. In the Iliad Homer describes her visit to the forge of Hephaestus (Vulcan), where she asked the god to create armour for her son. Here, with the assistance of a triton or merman, she delivers the sword and helmet to Achilles on his ship as he lays siege to Troy. Theed has chosen to depict her in despair, mourning for the forthcoming loss of the son she knows to be mortal.