Lot 199 , Ivor Roberts-Jones (British, 1916-1996), a cast bronze of Sir Winston Churchill, a maquette for the monument in Parliament Square, raised on a Portland stone plinth

§ Ivor Roberts-Jones (British, 1916-1996), a cast bronze of Sir Winston Churchill, a maquette for the monument in Parliament Square, raised on a Portland stone plinth, inscribed ‘’Churchill’’, number 62 from an edition limited to 500, 50.8cm high (excluding the base).
£50,000-80,000
Literature: P. Cannon-Brookes, Ivor Roberts-Jones, London, 1983, pp. 51-59

Note:
In 1970 the Royal Fine Arts Commission (members included Henry Moore and John Piper) approached nine sculptors to compete for the Parliament Square Winston Churchill Monument commission. Two of these, Ivor Roberts-Jones and Oscar Nemon, were shortlisted and invited to submit revised proposals. By November 1970, the Commission had selected Roberts-Jones as the sculptor. However, Lady Churchill was determined that it shouldn't be Oscar Nemon who won the commission and due to her reservations, the Commission agreed to look at two larger maquettes by both sculptors. Kyffin Williams, a staunch supporter of Roberts-Jones, arranged a private view of Roberts-Jones' maquettes in his own studio for Lady Churchill and in 1971 he was finally announced as the chosen sculptor.

The finished statue was unveiled in Parliament Square in 1973 by Lady Churchill, with a speech given by Queen Elizabeth II.

The present work was cast by the Meridian Foundry from a maquette produced at the same time as the Parliament Square monumental work. Roberts-Jones retained the first 100 casts for his own clients with the remainder being offered to the subscribers of The Collected works by Winston Churchill by the Library of Imperial History, London.

With its enigmatic expression and mass, the statue brilliantly portrays Churchill's grit and greatness or, in the words of a reporter for The Times, his "Bulldog resolution and defiance."

Sold for £45,000