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Modern British and Irish Art

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Lot 95^AR

Robert Adams
(British, 1917-1984)
Slim Bronze/Hatchet Form 44.7 cm. (17 1/2 in.) long

29 May 2013, 14:00 BST

London, New Bond Street

Sold for £8,750 inc. premium

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Director

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Robert Adams (British, 1917-1984)

Slim Bronze/Hatchet Form
signed with initial, dated and numbered 'A 71 3/6' (lower left)
bronze with a gold patina on a slate base
44.7 cm. (17 1/2 in.) long
This work is Opus number 328

Footnotes

PROVENANCE:
Sale; Sotheby's, London, 29 January 1998, lot 648 (as by Denis Mitchell), where purchased by the present owner

EXHIBITED:
Northampton, City Art Gallery, Robert Adams: Retrospective Exhibition, 1971, cat.no.73 (another cast); this exhibition toured to Sheffield, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the Camden Arts Centre, London
London, Gimpel Fils Gallery, Robert Adams, 29 May-22 June 1974, cat.no.1 (another cast)
New York, Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, 1974, cat.no.1 (another cast)

LITERATURE:
Alastair Grieve, The Sculpture of Robert Adams, Henry Moore Foundation in association with Lund Humphries, London, 1992, p.230, cat.no.593 (ill.b&w p.124)

Slim Bronze/Hatchet Form is one of only three bronze works to be included in Adams' 1971 retrospective, the remainder of the exhibition comprising of large steel sculptures and a number of marbles. This concise triplet of works can be viewed as somewhat of a turning point in Adams' oeuvre towards more compact form and an increasing preference for the medium, as Alastair Grieve notes 'the three bronzes shown at Camden are the beginning of a fruitful development which continued over the next decade." (Alastair Grieve, The Sculpture of Robert Adams, Henry Moore Foundation in association with Lund Humphries, London, 1992, p.123).

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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If you have any questions about the Conditions of Sale, please contact your nearest client services team.
From 28 June 2025, the import into the EU of non-EU property of a certain age (and in some categories above a certain value) is subject to additional requirements. Under the relevant EU Regulation, it is the Buyer's sole responsibility to assess whether any Lot meets the criteria for import into the EU. The refusal of any required Import Licence or Importer Statement, or any delay in obtaining such Licence or Statement shall not give rise to the rescission or cancellation of any Sale, nor allow any delay in making full payment for the Lot.
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