At intervals between 1947 and 1953 Hepworth produced a series of figure studies on gessoed board. The models for these works were dancers who were asked to move around the artist's studio pausing from time to time. Often several views of the same dancer are combined within a single work (see R. Alley, Barbara Hepworth, 1968, Tate Gallery exhibition catalogue). The artist says of these works 'This led me to renewed study of anatomy and structure as well as the structure of integrated groups of two or more figures. I began to consider a group of separate figures as a single sculptural entity, and I started working on the idea of two or more figures as a unity, blended into one carved and rhythmic form. Many subsequent carvings were on this theme' A. Bowness (intro.), Barbara Hepworth Drawings from a Sculptor's Landscape, London, 1966, p.p.22-3