Dame Elisabeth Frink, R.A.

Acquired by the family of the present owner in the 1970s

London, Waddington Galleries, Elisabeth Frink, 28th November - 21st December 1963, cat. no.12 (another cast);
London, Waddington Galleries, Elisabeth Frink, 11th October - 4th November 1972, un-numbered catalogue, (another cast);
Salisbury, Library and Galleries, Elisabeth Frink: Sculpture, Graphic Works, Textiles, May - June 1997, cat. no.17 (another cast).

James Burr, 'Art School Manners', Apollo, December 1963, pp.498-9, illustrated (another cast);
Edwin Mullins (intro.), The Art of Elisabeth Frink, Lund Humphries, London, 1972, pls.38, 39, illustrated (another cast);
Brian Robertson, Elisabeth Frink Sculpture Catalogue Raisonné, Salisbury, 1984, pp.58, 156-157, cat. no.93, illustrated (another cast);
Annette Ratuszniak (ed.), Elisabeth Frink, Catalogue Raisonné of Sculpture 1947-93, Lund Humphries in association with the Frink Estate and Beaux Arts, London, 2013, cat. no.FCR117, illustrated (another cast).

Structurally sound. There is minor dust and surface dirt to the crevices, with some very minor spots of minor oxidisation to the underarm and crotch area, only visible upon very close inspection. There are two casting imperfections to the bottom of the left leg and the middle of the right leg. This excepting the work appears to be in excellent overall condition. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"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."

‘The forms I sculpted were the ones which were most natural to me – animal and bird forms from Suffolk. However… they turned, almost, into a sort of bird-madness: quite fearsome, I think. Probably they were influenced by the aeroplanes I saw in the war – the equation was aeroplanes, flying machines, flying men, birdmen. I’m sure that was it’ (Frink, quoted in Edward Lucie-Smith and Elisabeth Frink, Frink: A Portrait, London: Bloomsbury, 1994, p. 106).

From early in her career, Frink was interested in the connection between animals and man, and she produced some of her most remarkable pieces in the 1950s and 1960s through the amalgamation of animalistic and masculine traits. In her Birdman sculptures, with their truncated and inoperative wings, she touches upon the duality of man, their capacity for incredible bravery, but also their fundamental and unavoidable weakness.  She was inspired, at least in part, by the doomed flight of Léo Valentin, who in 1956 plunged to his death while attempting to fly with wooden wings in front of 100,000 spectators in Liverpool.