Head Turned, Gazing Afar

Viewing notes

A viewer's written impression — not a buyer review or first-hand record

This copper-toned seated figure is all profile and patience. A full curly beard frames his face and a single ear ornament hangs at his ear; his head is turned to the left, leaving a sharply modelled half-profile gazing off beyond the frame, as if listening for something, or waiting for it. One knee is raised high, the robe wrapping his arms entirely and resting them over the knee, while the other leg is folded away; the drapery falls from his shoulders in great heavy masses and piles in deep, slow folds across the rocky seat. The copper runs warm, its sheen gathering at the cheekbone, the knee and the turns of the folds, bringing out the weathered strength of the face. This is not a figure that wins you with a smile — it wins you with experience. It rewards slow looking in a collection, and in a study or tea room it makes a companion for gazing elsewhere.