Bronze of a crouching fawn by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska – estimate £8000-12,000 at Bellmans.
This 10in (24.5cm) high bronze of a crouching fawn has been consigned to a Modern British sale at Bellmans on November 15 by the vendor whose aunt received it as a gift from Jeanne Courtauld (1909-2003).
Courtauld was the daughter of Conservative politician Major John ‘Jack’ Courtauld and the niece of Samuel Courtauld, founder of The Courtauld Institute of Art in London. A large amount of the contents of her house was auctioned at Stride & Son in Chichester in 2003.
The bronze is estimated at £8000-12,000.
Gaudier-Brzeska was inspired by the work of Jacob Epstein and developed a rough-hewn style of direct carving following his move to England at the turn of the 20th century.
During his short life, which ended when a German bullet killed him during an infantry charge in 1915 at the age of only 23, he also embraced the Vorticism movement and became a founding member of the London Group.
