20th Century British Art

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Lot 39
  • 39

Sir Jacob Epstein 1880-1959

Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
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Description

  • Sir Jacob Epstein
  • Piccaninny
  • signed

  • bronze with a dark brown patina

  • height 22.5cm., 9in.

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist by Mrs R.H. Jackson, Nantwich
Acquired from the above by the present owner, December 1954

Exhibited

London, Leicester Galleries, Flower Paintings and some new Bronzes by Jacob Epstein, exhibition no.730, October 1940, probably no.33 (as 'African Girl', another cast);
Bolton, Bolton Art Gallery, Sir Jacob Epstein, October-November 1954, no.4 (this cast);
London, Tate Gallery, Epstein Memorial Exhibition, exhibition organised by the Arts Council of Great Britain, November - December 1961, no.52 (wherein dated 1945, another cast).

Literature

Richard Buckle, Jacob Epstein Sculptor, Faber and Faber, London, p.254, no.390, illustrated p.254;
Evelyn Silber, The Sculpture of Epstein with a complete catalogue, Phaidon, Oxford, 1986, no.310, illustrated p.188.

Catalogue Note

Conceived in 1940 and cast in an edition of 8, this bronze - the second in the series - is sold together with the original receipt from Mrs M.G. Jackson and a letter from the artist to the present owner dated Dec 14th 1954. Here, the artist refers to the work as 'Anne' and remarks that it is 'one of the bronzes I am very pleased with'. The sitter was the daughter of Marie Tracey who modelled for Epstein's figure studies during the war and for a bust in 1938 (see Evelyn Silber, ibid., no.297). 

The slightly larger plaster version of this work is in the collection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.