MICHAEL AYRTON (1921-1975)' HERA' BRONZE FIGURE, 44 cm high ...

Estimate

£6,000 - £8,000

MICHAEL AYRTON (1921-1975)' HERA' BRONZE FIGURE, 44 cm high

Provenance: From the Miles Collection

"During World War II my grandparents designed and built thousands of aircraft to train our Battle of Britain pilots before they were allowed to fly in Spitfires and Hurricanes. After the war ended FG and Blossom Miles invested in art, and after a time, were introduced to Michael Ayrton, whose muscular sculptures they admired. 

The couple commissioned a large outdoor statue, ‘Bather with Child’, for their new home in Sussex; at over 2 metres high, it was one of the largest pieces that Ayrton had ever attempted (apparently some of the Miles’ family silver had to be melted down to help the bronze flow). This was subsequently sold by the family at auction at Christie's '20th Century British Art', 18th November 2005 (Lot 113A).  My mother recalls my grandfather speaking to Michael Ayrton about an ancient statue in the Louvre museum, named after the Greek goddess Hera. Ayrton was so taken with the figure that he was moved to view the statue in Paris for himself, and on his return he set about sculpting the bronze Hera that we see on sale here today".
Jonathon Miles

Two other examples were sold at auction in recent years. One at Sotheby's 'Modern Post-War British Art' sale on 12th July 2013 (Lot 130) and the other at Christie's 'Modern British and Irish Art sale'  15th July 2015 (Lot 139).

This piece was sold directly by the artist to the Miles family, who inspired its creation, and it has remained in the Miles family until today. This is therefore, a rare opportunity to acquire a work of great beauty, and indeed provenance, having never been resold since the bronze was poured by the artist over 70 years ago.  

As part of the sale there is a book about the artist, plus two collector’s sale catalogues of the artist’s work, and a photo postcard of the statue of Hera in Paris that Ayrton obtained from the Louvre for his inspiration.