Lot 172: A PORTLAND STONE KEYSTONE

A PORTLAND STONE KEYSTONE
BY SIR CHARLES WHEELER PRA (1892-1974), CARVED 1946-1962
Carved with three interlocking cogs
30 in. (76 cm.) high; 17½ in. (44.5 cm.) wide; 8 in. (20.4 cm.) deep

The Headquarters of Barclays Bank, Lombard St, City of London, demolished 1988.

Sir Charles Thomas Wheeler KCVO RA (1892-1974) was born in Staffordshire and raised in Wolverhampton. In 1912 he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art where he studied under Edouard Lanteri. He went on to specialise in portrait and architectural sculpture and was the first sculptor to hold the Presidency of the Royal Academy from 1956-1966.
Lots 172-177 are part of the large sculptural commission Wheeler received from Sir Herbert Baker as part of the rebuilding of Barclays Bank headquarters on the prime City site cornering Gracechurch Street and Lombard Street. It followed on from his work as sculptor for the rebuilding of The Bank of England (1925-1939).
The Barclays commission, which occupied Wheeler for almost fourteen years, was to adorn the frontages of the headquarters with a series of relief plaques, keystones and other sculpture. The keystones offered here pertain to the arts and industries with which Barclays had invested in - engineering, agriculture, entertainment, building, transport and chemicals.
Artist's Resale Right ("droit de Suite").If the Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer also agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.
All lots removed to off-site warehouse the day after the sale - 2 weeks free storage