Lot Essay
The plaster of the present work was commissioned by Roger Fry for his garden at ‘Durbins’, near Reigate, Surrey. The full-size piece sits in the collection of the McMaster Museum of Art in Ontario.
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Garden Ornament 1 (Bird Bath)
Details
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891-1915)
Garden Ornament 1 (Bird Bath)
signed with the artist's monogram and inscribed 'Scale 1/6th nat size' (on the top of the base) and numbered '4/4' (on the edge of the base)
bronze with a dark brown patina
10¾ in. (27.3 cm.) high
Conceived in plaster in 1914 and cast circa 1960 in bronze in an edition of 4.
Garden Ornament 1 (Bird Bath)
signed with the artist's monogram and inscribed 'Scale 1/6th nat size' (on the top of the base) and numbered '4/4' (on the edge of the base)
bronze with a dark brown patina
10¾ in. (27.3 cm.) high
Conceived in plaster in 1914 and cast circa 1960 in bronze in an edition of 4.
Provenance
with Mercury Gallery, London, where purchased by the present owner.
Literature
R. Cole, Burning to Speak: The Life and Art of Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Oxford, 1978, p. 107, no. 54, another cast illustrated.
J. Lewison (ed.), exhibition catalogue, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, sculptor 1891-1915, Cambridge, Arts Council of Great Britain, Kettle's Yard Gallery, 1983, p. 61, no. 115, plaster cast illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Lugano, Galleria Pieter Coray, 1984, n.p., no. 41, as ‘Ornamento da giardino I’, another cast illustrated.
J. Collins, The Omega Workshops, London, 1984, pp. 73-74.
E. Silber and D. Finn, Gaudier-Brzeska Life and Art, London, 1996, pp. 94, 121, no. 71, pl. 149, as 'Maquette for a Bird Bath', another cast illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska in the collection of the Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris, Centre Pompidou, 2009, pp. 230-231, no. 28, another cast illustrated.
J. Lewison (ed.), exhibition catalogue, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, sculptor 1891-1915, Cambridge, Arts Council of Great Britain, Kettle's Yard Gallery, 1983, p. 61, no. 115, plaster cast illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Lugano, Galleria Pieter Coray, 1984, n.p., no. 41, as ‘Ornamento da giardino I’, another cast illustrated.
J. Collins, The Omega Workshops, London, 1984, pp. 73-74.
E. Silber and D. Finn, Gaudier-Brzeska Life and Art, London, 1996, pp. 94, 121, no. 71, pl. 149, as 'Maquette for a Bird Bath', another cast illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska in the collection of the Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris, Centre Pompidou, 2009, pp. 230-231, no. 28, another cast illustrated.
Exhibited
London, Leicester Galleries, A memorial exhibition of the work of Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, May - June 1918, no. 103, as 'A Vase', plaster cast exhibited.
Cambridge, Arts Council of Great Britain, Kettle’s Yard Gallery, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, sculptor 1891-1915, October - November 1983, no. 115, plaster cast exhibited; this exhibition travelled to Bristol, City Museum and Art Gallery, November 1983 - January 1984; and York, City Art Gallery, January - February 1984.
Lugano, Galleria Pieter Coray, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, September - October 1984, no. 41, as ‘Ornamento da giardino I’, another cast exhibited.
London, Mercury Gallery, Gaudier-Brzeska, May - June 1987, no. 11, another cast exhibited.
Cambridge, Arts Council of Great Britain, Kettle’s Yard Gallery, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, sculptor 1891-1915, October - November 1983, no. 115, plaster cast exhibited; this exhibition travelled to Bristol, City Museum and Art Gallery, November 1983 - January 1984; and York, City Art Gallery, January - February 1984.
Lugano, Galleria Pieter Coray, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, September - October 1984, no. 41, as ‘Ornamento da giardino I’, another cast exhibited.
London, Mercury Gallery, Gaudier-Brzeska, May - June 1987, no. 11, another cast exhibited.
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