Lot 162: HENRY ALFRED PEGRAM ENGLISH, 1862-1937

signed and dated: H. PEGRAM. S^c 1889

bronze, dark brown patina, mounted in a wood frame

bronze diameter: 53cm., 20 7/8 in. frame: 82 by 70cm., 32 1/4 by 27 1/2 in.

When Pegram's bronze relief of Ignis Fatuus was sent for exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1889 (no.2156) it was purchased for the Chantrey Bequest for the not inconsiderable sum of £105 and presented by their trustees to the Tate (inv.no.N01756). It was a good year for the young Pegram, who was concurrently awarded a bronze medal at the Paris International Exhibition for his Death Liberating a Prisoner, shown at the RA the previous year. His early works show the influence of Alfred Gilbert, whose Post Equitem Sedet Atra Cura of 1883 probably inspired the present relief: Gilbert's portrays a knight being lured by a nude beauty holding a bag of gold while Pegram's shows a young warrior misled by the light of delusional desire - the literal meaning is 'foolish fire'. Spielmann said of Pegram 'there is always a sense of the values of strong light and shade, and an architectural character that is good', sentiments which are perfectly reflected in the present work.

RELATED LITERATURE Spielmann pp.96-99 illustrated; Kineton Parkes pp.76-78