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Modern British and Irish Art

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Lot 89^AR

Dame Elisabeth Frink R.A.
(British, 1930-1993)
Lying Down Buffalo Maquette 31.4 cm. (12 3/8 in.) long

29 May 2013, 14:00 BST

London, New Bond Street

£18,000 - £25,000

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Dame Elisabeth Frink R.A. (British, 1930-1993)

Lying Down Buffalo Maquette
signed and inscribed 'Frink/AC' (underneath)
bronze with a brown patina
31.4 cm. (12 3/8 in.) long
Conceived in 1988, an artist's cast aside from an edition of 9

Footnotes

PROVENANCE:
Gifted by the artist to the present owner, February 1991

EXHIBITED:
Exchange Square, Hong Kong, Elisabeth Frink: Sculpture & Drawing, 31 January-31 March 1989, as part of the Hong Kong Festival (another cast)

LITERATURE:
Edward Lucie-Smith, Elisabeth Frink; Sculpture since 1984 and Drawings, Art Books International, London, 1994, p.37 & p.187, cat.no.SC39 (another cast ill.b&w)
Annette Ratuszniak, Elisabeth Frink; Catalogue Raisonné of Sculpture 1947-93, Lund Humphries, Farnham, 2013, p.178, cat.no.365 (another cast ill.b&w)

The present work closely relates to one of a pair of monumental works, Standing Buffalo and Lying Down Buffalo (1987-88), commissioned by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank for their Hong Kong headquarters. As was often the case in the artist's approach, Frink looked back to an ancient artifact as a source of inspiration, in this instance a large carved jade recumbent buffalo from the Song Dynasty.

Although true to the overall form of the monumental works, the maquettes are more impressionistic in their moulding, retaining the finger and tool marks of their crafting in keeping with Frink's familiar style. As Edward Lucie-Smith suggests the larger works seem to have been tamed in style for the Hong Kong audience who were relatively unfamiliar with Frink's work.

Additional information

The 29 May sale was the departments most successful auction to date making almost £5m.
Furthermore, it was 90% sold by value with some staggering results achieved for fresh, competitively priced material sourced from private collections. Over half of sold lots soared above their high estimates, indicating that Bonhams is best positioned to secure the best price for your Modern British & Irish Art.
The variety on offer within this genre continues to delight buyers, proven by exceptional results for post-war masters such as Auerbach, Scully, Hockney and Freud whilst the early-mid century examples by Spencer, Lavery, Burra and Moore also exceeded expectation. We were proud to break our own world auction record twice over in the same sale for a pencil drawing by L.S. Lowry. Agecroft Regatta sold for £211,250, pipping The Organ Grinder (£151,250) to the title. The sculpture and Irish content were similarly contended for by the packed saleroom and busy telephones.
The cover lot Garden Path, Cookham Rise by Sir Stanley Spencer fetched an impressive £769,250 while the much admired Oil-bound Puffin by Lucian Freud commanded £385,250 on the day, with both returning to private collections.
We are delighted to now invite consignments for the forthcoming auction on 20 November 2013.
Please contact a member of the department or visit the sale webpage for further information.
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