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Lot Essay
Dennis Farr describes Chadwick's distinguishing use of iron and composition in his early works, as employed in the present work:
'an elaborate and carefully constructed web of welded rods ... form triangular units that are joined together at various angles to express the planes and sharp contours of [its] body, the whole supported on four thinly tapered forged legs ... the interstices of this web are filled with 'Stolit', an industrial artificial stone compound of gypsum and iron powder, which is applied wet like plaster and which, on drying, sets glass-hard. It can then be worked and chased, coloured, or more usually left to weather. The iron armatures rust and expand on contact with moisture absorbed by Stolit, so that straight profiles become subtly curved with the passage of time, especially if the sculpture is left in a damp environment. The ribbed texture produced by this method imparts a fossilized look to the sculpture that suggests some skeletal prehistoric creature. The effect is at once eerie and startling' (D. Farr and E. Chadwick, op. cit., p. 22).
'an elaborate and carefully constructed web of welded rods ... form triangular units that are joined together at various angles to express the planes and sharp contours of [its] body, the whole supported on four thinly tapered forged legs ... the interstices of this web are filled with 'Stolit', an industrial artificial stone compound of gypsum and iron powder, which is applied wet like plaster and which, on drying, sets glass-hard. It can then be worked and chased, coloured, or more usually left to weather. The iron armatures rust and expand on contact with moisture absorbed by Stolit, so that straight profiles become subtly curved with the passage of time, especially if the sculpture is left in a damp environment. The ribbed texture produced by this method imparts a fossilized look to the sculpture that suggests some skeletal prehistoric creature. The effect is at once eerie and startling' (D. Farr and E. Chadwick, op. cit., p. 22).