The subject of the siren, the mermaid who with her song lured sailors to their deaths on treacherous rocks, is probably an outgrowth of the sculptor's interest in the bather theme. Around 1935 he cast a small siren measuring 3¼ inches (see Christie's, New York sale, May 11, 1994, lot 431). A group of sirens and individual winged sirens followed several years later. The present version is related to a larger sculpture, 46½ inches high, also executed in 1945.