Works offered at auction to raise money for Royal Society of Sculptors
01 October 2021 An auction at Rosebery’s includes over 120 works donated to the Royal Society of Sculptors to help raise funds to renovate its historic London home.‘Head of a Woman’ by Erica Lee – estimated at £200-300 at Roseberys.
The 129 lots of busts, reliefs, bronze forms and drawings will be sold with all proceeds going to the Saving Dora House campaign.
Dora House is made up of a pair of semi-detached early Georgian villas in South Kensington which were the former home of sculptor Cecil Thomas (1885-1976). When he died, Thomas left Dora House to the Royal Society of British Sculptors, as it was then called, as the society had had no permanent headquarters since its foundation in 1905.
The Society is now raising funds to help repair and restore the building and it is hoped the lots at the Roseberys sale October 13 will make a useful contribution in that regard.
Here’s a selection of five lots at the sale to give you a flavour of what’s on offer.
1. Portrait of son
Four works at the Roseberys sale are by Cecil Thomas himself. Among them is bronze head titled Anthony which is signed and dated 1957. Measuring 19.25in (49cm) high, it is a portrait of the artist’s son.
It is estimated at £200-300. View the catalogue entry for this Cecil Thomas bronze on thesaleroom.com.
2. Cosmic Form
Among the more contemporary works in the sale is this 7.75in (17cm) high bronze by British-Indian artist Yunus Haider (b.1943) titled Cosmic Form.
Although he now works in Norfolk, his sculptures have been influenced by his childhood spent in India high up in the Himalayans.
On a marble base, Cosmic Form is estimated at £300-500.
View the catalogue entry for this Yunus Haider sculpture on thesaleroom.com.
3. Reclining figure
Sculptor, ceramicist and printmaker Ivor Abrahams (1935-2015) is represented at the Rosebery’s sale by two mixed media pictures as well as this bronze figure from 1989. Titled Trente-Six, it measures 4.34in (12cm) high.
It is estimated at £300-500.
View the catalogue entry for this Ivor Abrahams sculpture on thesaleroom.com.
4. Head of a woman
This 18.25in (47cm) high head of a woman is by Erica Lee (1888-1981), a sculptress who became an associate member of the Royal Society of Sculptors in 1938 and was elected a Fellow in 1948.
Born in Manchester, she exhibited at both the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon.
This glazed ceramic head from 1922 is estimated at £200-300.
View the catalogue entry for this Erica Lee bronze on thesaleroom.com.
5. Greek Priest
The Scottish artist Iain R Mackintosh (b.1945) is arguably best known for his carved wooden sculptures represents ships and boats which were inspired by his coastal upbringing in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
One of his figurative works though is on offer here – an oak carving titled Greek Priest which measures 14.75in (38cm) high and is estimated at £300-500.
View the catalogue entry for this Iain R Mackintosh wooden carving on thesaleroom.com.