 The James II was erected at the Palace of Whitehall on 24 March 1686 , as recorded by a contemporary , Sir John Bramston the Younger . George Vertue , who found an agreement and a receipt of payment for the work , wrote that it was " modelled & made by Lawrence [ Vandermeulen ] ( of Brussels ) ... & Devoot [ i.e. Peter Van Dievoet ] ( of Mechlin ) who was imployed by ... Gibbons " , and that Thomas Benniere was involved in the casting . A series of five drawings in the British Museum , which might be for either the standing Charles II or the James II , is attributed variously to Gibbons or to Peter Van Dievoet . Its artistic qualities were praised by J.P. Malcolm in his 1803 history , London Redivivum , in which he wrote : 
