SOLD


James Woodford:
The Lion and the Unicorn for Wandsworth County Court, 1969
Framed (ref: 579)

Original Plaster maquettes
Height 10 5/8 in. (27 cm.), base (irregular) 5 7/8 x 3 1/2 in. (15 × 9 cm.)

Tags: James Woodford plaster sculpture architecture design

Provenance: acquired directly from the artist’s son
Literature: James Woodford, Heraldic Sculpture and the Work of James Woodford, Ipswich 1972, p. 61

Woodford specialised in heraldic sculpture, most notable among which was his series of ten animals for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, known as ‘The Queen’s Beasts’.

The final figures for The Lion and the Unicorn for Wandsworth County Court are over 6 ft high, and are placed on brick piers either side of the main entrance. They were cast in aluminium and finished in stove enamel to protect against weathering.

Of this commission Woodford wrote:‘The composition is an upright one to be in keeping with the perpendicular lines of the stone panelling and the windows above, and forms the main feature of the elevation. The animals stand free from the building so that the side view presents a good silhouette. The modelled surface is textured to contrast with the plain surface of the building’ (James Woodford, Heraldic Sculpture and the Work of James  woodford, Ipswich, 1972, p. 61).

These are similar to his Lion and the Unicorn at Minturno British Cemetery, Imperial War Graves Commission, Italy.