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Artist or Maker: Sir Jacob Epstein (1880-1959)

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Description: Sir Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) Maquette for St Michael and the Devil bronze with a light brown patina 21 in. (53.4 cm.) high, including wooden base Conceived in 1956.

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Provenance: Lady Cochrane; Sotheby's, London, 14 December 1966, lot 23.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 4 November 1983, lot 124, where purchased by the present owner.

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Notes: In November 1955 the architect of the new cathedral at Coventry, Basil Spence selected Epstein to produce a model of St Michael's victory over the Devil to adorn the new building. The committee insisted on examining a maquette before confirming the commission and in early 1956 Epstein modelled a terracotta version, from which the present work was cast. The new cathedral was named St Michael's and Epstein's finished figure of the warrior angel towers some twenty feet above the cathedral steps.