Henry Scott Tuke, R.A. (1858-1929)

The Watcher

Details

Henry Scott Tuke, R.A. (1858-1929)
The Watcher
signed and dated 'TUKE/1916' (on the front of the base)
bronze with a green/brown patina
12½ in. (31.8 cm.) high including the wooden base
Conceived and cast in 1916 in an edition of five

Literature

M. Tuke Sainsbury, Henry Scott Tuke A Memoir, London, 1933, p.158 (another cast illustrated).
B.D. Price, The Registers of Henry Scott Tuke, Falmouth, 1983, R843.
E. Cooper, The Life and Work of Henry Scott Tuke 1858-1929, London, 1987, pp.57-58 (another cast illustrated).
D. Wainwright and C. Dinn, Henry Scott Tuke 1858-1929 Under Canvas, London, 1989, p.116.

Lot Essay

Tuke began work on 'The Watcher', the only sculpture that he is known to have produced, in 1916. Frustrated by wartime restrictions on movement around the coastline, and the need for a permit for painting out of doors (which did not arrive until the following summer), he began to model the figure in wax and then clay. Harry Giles posed for the head, and Charlie Mitchell for the body, when on leave from the Navy. Harry Giles later recalled that Tuke called it 'The Little Man' and that the hands had taken an entire day in the studio to perfect. The plaster was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1916 and five casts were produced in bronze. Tuke had intended to make more but his metal allowance ran out and could not be replenished due to government rationing. (see D. Wainwright and C. Dinn, loc. cit.).

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