John Skeaping

Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, where acquired by Wilfrid A. Evill in 1950 for £50.0.0, by whom bequeathed to Honor Frost in 1963

London, Arthur Tooth & Sons, New Sculpture by John Skeaping, 18th January - 10th February 1934, cat. no.6;
London, Arthur Tooth & Sons, Drawings and Carvings by John Skeaping, 21st January - 13th February 1937, cat. no.30;
London, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Pictures, Drawings, Water Colours and Sculpture, April - May 1961, (part I- section I) cat. no.21 (as Puffed Pigeon);
Brighton, Brighton Art Gallery, The Wilfrid Evill Memorial Exhibition, June - August 1965, cat. no. 177 (as Puffed Pigeon).

The following condition report has been prepared by Plowden & Smith Limited, 190 St Ann's Hill, London, SW18 2RT: The piece is in stable condition overall. Any cracks visible in the pigeon are natural fissures. There are a number of small scratches and bruises across the piece, none of which appear recent. The pigeon is soundly attached to the limestone base although it appears to be slightly out of its intended position. Some of the filler between the base and the piece is lost. The base is structurally stable however, two of the corners are chipped on the underside, one of which has the remains of a discoloured repair. When the piece is standing these are not visually distracting. The piece is very dirty and would brighten considerably if cleaned. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In the 1920s and 30s John Skeaping was ranked alongside Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore as one of the most promising young sculptors of the day. It was Moore himself who commented that no sculptor of his generation was born with greater natural facility than John Skeaping (John Skeaping, A Retrospective, exh. cat., Arthur Ackermann and Sons, London, 1991, p.13).

In 1924 Skeaping won the Prix de Rome (Hepworth was runner up) and the following year Hepworth and Skeaping married and moved to Rome where they began carving in stone. Following successful joint exhibitions at Alex Reid & Lefevre in 1928 and Arthur Tooth's in 1930, they joined the Seven and Five Society in 1930.

Disillusioned with the austerity of the Society's continued focus on pure abstraction, Skeaping resigned in 1932. Pouter-Pigeon was executed the following year and exhibited in Skeaping's 1934 solo show at Arthur Tooth's gallery.

We are grateful to Nick Skeaping for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work. The present work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Skeaping's work, which is currently being compiled by Jon Blackwood, as number 122.