Michael Lake
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Lot 334
Sir William Hamo Thornycroft, British (1850-1925): A patinated bronze figure of 'The Iron Age'
15 – 16 February 2022, 10:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge£4,000 - £6,000
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Sir William Hamo Thornycroft, British (1850-1925): A patinated bronze figure of 'The Iron Age'
the male figure depicted in labourer's dress with contraposto stance, a pick held over his left shoulder, raised on square base, signed and dated to the top of one corner Hamo Thornycroft 1907, the opposing corner inscribed and numbered HT 1302(?), the side of the base with title THE IRON AGE, 34.5cm high
Footnotes
The figure of 'Iron Age' comes under the umbrella of 'New Sculpture,' of which Thornycroft was a leading light. The idea of 'realism' was a recurring one that preoccupied the sculptor and which is reflected in his work. The New Sculptors tried to find ways to bring the sculptural body to life making it appear life-like without wishing to make it a 'display of flesh.' This tension is apparent in much of Thornycroft's with the figure of the 'Mower,' and the present lot being prime examples . In 1885 Thornycroft gave a lecture at Royal Academy where he commented that the 'considerable and sustained advance of sculpture' was due to, in part, to 'the closer study of nature.'
Literature
D. Getsy, The Problem of Realism in Hamo Thornycroft's 1885 Royal Academy Lecture, The Walpole Society 69 (2007): pp. 211–25.