Lot 122: CHARLES HENRY FEHR (BRITISH, 1867-1940) THE SHANGHAI WAR MEMORIAL, A MODEL

Signed and inscribed Sketch model of the Shanghai War Memorial by C H Fehr Sc. Bronze, dark brown patination, (cast by J.W. Singer and Sons of Frome) 56.5 cm (22 in) Fehr studied at the RA Schools before entering Thomas Brock's studio. His first major sculpture, Perseus rescuing Andromeda was bought for the nation by the Chantrey Bequest in 1894, (on display outside the Tate Gallery). Fehr's work is related to the New Sculpture movement, but is imbued with an histrionic style, St George rescuing the Maiden (1898), Hyprus Bestowing Sleep upon the Earth (1895) and The Fallen Angel (1906) are amongst his most ambitious "ideal" groups. He was also active as an architectural decorator (e.g. Middlesex Guildhall, Parliament Square and the Hotels Russell and Imperial, Russell Square) and his portrait busts include William Morris, John Ruskin and Robert Browning. Another exquisite bust by Fehr was sold in these rooms on 9 December 1993 as lot 146. See also lots 152 and 106 in the same sale for a figure of a girl and "Spirit of the Waves". The Shangai War Memorial was one of many commissions for commemorative monuments which revived the fortunes of the Singer Foundry after 1918. Fehr's other war memorials include those in Leeds and Colchester. Comparative Literature: S. Beattie, The New Sculpture, New Haven and London, 1983, pp131, 242 A. Borg, War Memorials from Antiquity to the Present, London 1991, p.77.