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Sir Jacob Epstein(British, 1880-1959)Head of Field Marshal Smuts 60cm high
Sold for AU$8,400 inc. premium
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Find your local specialistSir Jacob Epstein (British, 1880-1959)
bronze
60cm high
Footnotes
ILLUSTRATED:
R. Buckle, Jacob Epstein, Sculptor, (London, 1963), another cast illustrated pl.589
E. Silber, The Sculpture of Epstein, (Oxford, 1986), p.22, cat. no. 483, another cast illustrated
The Office of Works commissioned an over-sized statue of Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870-1950), Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and again from 1939 until 1948, (illustrated in Silber, 1986, pl.43) for Parliament Square in Westminster, which they planned for Sir Winston Churchill to unveil in 1956. Epstein had been outspoken in his dislike for public commissions, and decided to represent Smuts in motion, striding along in uniform, head in the air and hands clasped behind his back, as opposed to the usual static official effigy. The whole figure was cast by Gaskin's in early 1955, but the head alone was cast by Morris Singer, in March-May 1957.
























