Carved in white marble and mounted on a cylindrical, dark marble pedestal, Ciniselli's statue of Ruth was carved in the early 1880s, and exhibited at the Kelvingrove International Exhibition in Glasgow in 1888. It was loaned for the occasion by Leonard Gow, whose family presented the sculpture to the city in 1927. Ruth was believed to be a relative of Christ, and appears in the Bible as a modest and virtuous figure. Ciniselli depicted her seated on a tree stump in a contemplative pose holding wheatsheaves in her left hand across her lap. These symbolize her harvesting of the corn in the field of her future husband, Boaz. The statue was cleaned during the refurbishment of the Kibble Palace in 2005-7.