The title for this sculpture was not the idea of the sculptor but was given by the British critic Robert Melville. Manipulator is one of the sculptor's important works, and exists in different versions. It combines the constructive approach of the earlier works with an increasing emphasis on the character of the figure.

Reg Butler's forms are basically human and like the
human frame they are hollow. His earlier figures
existed as linear shapes in wrought-iron, united by
interpenetration of the essential elements of their
structure. More recently his mastery of other mediums
leads him to present us with surfaces which hide the
inner void but still leave us conscious of vital forms
within. There is continuous play between the receptive
aspect's cavernous interiors, limbs, like radar antennae,
stretching towards invisible and inaudible waves and
the aggresive fullness of form, ready to penetrate like
a battering ram.

These figures are not solidly based on earth but
practice levitation. They are airborne and the upward
gaze of the taunt, phallic heads lift them even further
from the ground, raising them in the imagination to
the dimensions of inter-stellar space. (R. Penrose,
introduction to the exhibition catalogue for New York,
Curt Valentin Gallery, Reg Butler, 1953.)