Duck

Details

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891-1915)
Duck
bronze
4¾ in. (12 cm.) long
Conceived in 1914 and cast in 1964-68

Provenance

with Mercury Gallery, London, where purchased by the present owner's mother in 1992.

Literature

R. Cole, Burning to speak The life and art of Henri Gaudier Brzeska, Oxford, 1978, p. 108, pl. 55, another cast illustrated.
R. Cole, Gaudier Brzeska Artist and Myth, Bristol, 1995, pl. 32, another cast illustrated.
E. Silber, Gaudier-Brzeska, London, 1996, no. 90, p. 272, pl. 132, the marble illustrated.
R. Cork, Vorticism and Abstract Art in the First Machine Age, Volume II, Synthesis and Decline, London, 1976, pp. 433-34, the marble illustrated.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

The original marble Duck is in the collection of Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, having previously been part of Sophie Brzeska's estate. The present bronze cast is one of an edition of twelve bronzes cast by Fiorini from the marble. One further lead cast was cast for H.S. Ede. Roger Cole (loc. cit.) notes that this 'small semi-abstract work is one of a number of small toys carved by Gaudier out of small pieces of stone for his friends'. Evelyn Silber suggests that 'The Oriental tradition of small but exquisitely carved functional and decorative objects probably had more impact on the small 1914 pieces such as Small Fawn, Duck, and Brass Toy which redefine sculpture as something to be carried, handled and used'.

Further bronzes from this edition are in the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris; Tate Britain, London; and Kettle's Yard, Cambridge.

More from 20TH CENTURY BRITISH ART

View All