Lot Essay
J. Harris first suggested that the Rysbrack sketch was for his statue of the great philospher John Locke at Christ Church, Oxford in a letter to Professor Held dated 29 April 1964. The statue was made between 1754-58, and there is a version in terracotta at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In his 1971 publication Harris noted a sheet of three studies for the statue in the Art Institute of Chicago (J. Harris, p. 200, no. 1).