William Hamo Thornycroft

The sculptor's family;
private collection, United Kingdom;
with Robert Bowman, London; 
Robert Jackson M.P.;
private collection, United Kingdom

Overall the condition of the bronze is very good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There are a few slightly visible original casting joints, including to the top of the proper right arm and below the proper right buttock. There are a few original casting plugs, including to the centre of the base at the front. The front left corner of the base is cast separately and there is a stable slightly open joint. The top handle of the sythe is slightly loose and there is wear to the surface.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A Mower who, as the tiny swell
Of our boat passing heaved the river grass
Stood with suspended scythe to see us pass

These words from Thyrsis, Matthew Arnold's eulogy to Arthur Hugh Clough (1865), appeared in the catalogue entry of 1884 when Thornycroft first exhibited the life-size plaster of The Mower at the Royal Academy. The figure was a development of an earlier idea for a labourer which Thornycroft had sketched from the deck of his father's steamer on the Thames.

The plaster was exhibited in challenging company at the Academy that year - not only were Alfred Gilbert's large cast of Icarus and his Head of an Old Man shown, but also Rodin's full-size Age d'Airain in an adjacent room. The native New Sculpture was to prove triumphant and Thornycroft's Mower received critical acclaim.

With the Mower, Thornycroft breaks away from a previously classicising vein, which had seen him present Lot's Wife, Artemis and Teucer. It seems to exhibit a new-found fascination with the plight of the ordinary man. As he wrote to his fiancée Agatha Cox, ' my political opinions have undergone a change... Everyman's face I meet in the street interests me, and I feel a sympathy with the hard-handed toilers.'

The present bronze is a particularly fine cast of the model.

RELATED LITERATURE
E. Manning, Marble & Bronze-The Art and Life of Hamo Thornycroft, London, 1982, no. 152; T. Friedman, 'Demi-gods in Cuorduroy: Hamo Thornycroft's Statue of The Mower', The Sculpture Journal, vol. 3, London, 1999, pp. 74-86; D. Getsy, 'The Difficult Labour of Hamo Thornycrofts Mower, 1884', The Sculpture Journal, vol. 7, London, 2002, pp. 44-57