Lot 74: LUCY GWENDOLEN WILLIAMS

QUEEN OF DREAMS
signed: LGW, inscribed indistinctly in black ink on a white label underneath the base: 830 "The Queen of Dreams" L. Gwendolen Williams ...and The Queen of Dreams on a further red and white label

overall: 27cm., 10 5/8 in.

bronze, dark brown patina on an onyx marble base

S. Beattie, The New Sculpture, London, 1983, plate 197

Lucy Gwendolen Williams was part of a group of female sculptors, dubbed the 'South Kensington Women' by Susan Beattie, who studied under Edward Lanteri at the National Art Training School. Williams exhibited at the Royal Academy and was awarded the silver medal for sculpture in the 1894 National Art Competition.

Alfred Drury had advised Williams to take up sculpture and he remained an important influence throughout Williams' career. The naturalistic idealism and intimately contained forms of the present bronze's recall his oeuvre. Williams focused on ideal busts and female nudes and Queen of Dreams is a particularly tender example. The woman's feathered headdress curves about her shoulders echoing her embrace. The ruffled and rumpled textures of the feathers and drapery contrast with the smooth polish of the flesh. The model was first exhibited in 1906 at the Walker Art Gallery's Autumn Exhibition.

Although an English sculptor, Williams travelled in France and Holland and moved to Rome in 1910. She was born in New Ferry, Cheshire, of Welsh parents and her works are represented in the National Library of Wales.

RELATED LITERATURE
S. Beattie, The New Sculpture, New Haven and London, 1983, p. 22, 195, 196, 252; A. Graves, A Dictionary of Artists, Weston-Super-Mare, 1901, p. 304