Louis Richard Garbe (1876-1957) executed several images of animals which reveal an indebtedness to the work of Brancusi and Epstein. These stylised animals were composed of a synthesis of their natural characteristics conjured through line and form only. Examples of such works, for instance the Drake of 1924 in the Tate or the Sealion of 1929 originally at the National Gallery, Millbank, stood on their own as succinct statements. Some, as in the Mythological Group of 1920-5 and The Mummer of 1930 (op. cit.), were combined within a human group, adding interest and exoticism. The present pair of Lionesses reveal Garbe's ability to capture the intrinsic character of the animal in summarised form and flowing contours, here nelarged to ornament a terrace or garden.