Eric Gill, A.R.A.

Acquired directly from the Artist by Cosmo Gordon, and thence by descent to the present owners

Albert Rutherston (ed.), Eric Gill, Ernest Benn Ltd., London, 1927, illustrated pl.12;
Joseph Thorp, Eric Gill, Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, London, 1929, illustrated pl.4 (as A Tumbler);
Judith Collins, Eric Gill: Sculpture, Lund Humphries in association with Barbican Art Gallery, 1992, p.83, illustrated;
Judith Collins, Eric Gill, The Sculpture, A Catalogue Raisonné, Herbert Press, London, 1998, p.85-6, cat. no.43, illustrated.

The following condition report has been kindly prepared by Tessa Jackson of Jackson Sculpture Conservation Ltd., Surrey. There is a full, further report available on request. Please contact the department. This is carved form a single stone piece that has many striations within and detail within the stone – it has a general pin marked surface due to the nature of the stone. Where the stone is carved in the recesses there is still the white carving dust which adds to the detailing of the piece. As the sculpture has been handled over the years it has gathered a patina which in fact seems to suit it with the contrast of the paler carving. Because of this cleaning is not recommended or necessary in general. There are two accretions. One on the arm and one in the hair that are detailed above. There are marks on the surface in its two display positions. There are two areas of damage, one where the feet have been broken off and rebonded and one in the area of striation where there is a small loss to the stone. Please contact the department on +44 (0) 207 293 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."

Carved in 1913, Gill’s Contortionist was executed during a critical period in the artist’s life in which he both converted to Catholicism and moved to Hopkins Crank on Ditchling Common. Establishing his family and workshop within two acres of land, Gill celebrated the move as inherently symbolic, revelling in a life of simplicity and self-sufficiency.

The sculpture was originally commissioned by Count Kessler, an Anglo-German writer and patron of the arts, yet Gill’s ledgers reveal that it was sold instead to Cosmo Gordon. A second version of the work in black marble was intended for the Count, yet the outbreak of war rendered it unfinished. Kessler was an early supporter and sponsor of Gill, writing in 1910 that Gill’s work was extraordinary in that ‘I have rarely seen anything so thoroughly personal and national’ (Letter of 26 October 1910, quoted in R. Speaight, The Life of Eric Gill, Methuen, London, 1966, p.44). Gill appears to have been particularly pleased with the sculpture, for he enlisted a professional photographer to capture the work just a few days before its completion.

Contortionist is one of many acrobatic figures in Gill’s oeuvre, emerging from a diverse variety of sources: architectural influences feature in the form of both medieval Western capitals and misericords and Indian temple decorations, whilst Gill’s love of the music-hall and circus brought contemporary inspiration. In contrast to the dynamic athleticism of many of his other acrobatic figures however, Contortionist possesses a subtle and surprising serenity. With a striking purity of line, telling of his training as a letter-cutter, Gill instils this sculpture with a sense of the essential: elemental in both form and medium, the carved stone is pure yet sparse, the figure curled as though child-like into a protective foetal position. Whilst such a pose might suggest vulnerability, there is also possibly the promise of future growth, that her gathered limbs might gently unfurl, her closed eyes awaken. A preparatory sketch, Design for Sculpture: Contortionist, May 1913 (The Fine Art Society, London), even hints perhaps more overtly at an almost embryonic figure, crouching within a tightly encircling oval egg, a traditional symbol of fertility. The title of the work however adds a further dimension, a reminder of his fascination with circus performers, and as such the sculpture resists any singular interpretation. Gill’s life at Hopkins Crank was one which the sculptor treasured as idyllic, in which his workshop, love of labour, and wife and three children were very much intertwined. Contortionist is a superbly balanced work, combining a nurturing sense of familial duty and the primacy of his craft - that which Kessler identified as intensely personal - yet is simultaneously, and even ambiguously, quietly inscrutable.