HEAD OF WILLIAM JEFFREY WITH DEVICES
painted polyester resin, fibreglass, fillers, dowells and wire
28 x 15.3 x 23cm; 11 x 6 x 9in

Property of a Lady, Chelsea

Executed in 1972.

Provenance
Wolpe Gallery Ltd, Cape Town
Purchased from the above by the husband of the present owner in May 1986

Executed in 1972, the present work is one of a small number of casts from life of William Jeffery's head. One of the casts from the edition was acquired that year by the Tate Gallery (Collection Tate Britain). In the Tate's head Davies added chicken wire to the cast; in the present example he adds two dowells affixed with wire around the ears, sitting horizontally above the eyes, and on the tip of the nose. Davies notes that his life casts were not intended as portraits of the sitter as they reveal little about their character, hence his addition of 'devices' to draw out and give expression to broader human qualities.