Library and Archive Reading Rooms
View by appointment- Created by
- Dame Barbara Hepworth 1903–1975
- Title
- Plaster maquette, ‘Model for Monumental Stela’ attributed to Barbara Hepworth
- Date
- [c.1936]
- Format
- 3D object
- Collection
- Tate Archive
- Acquisition
- Purchased by Sir Alan Bowness and Sophie Bowness, and generously donated to Tate, 2016
- Reference
- TGA 201618/1
Description
'Model for Monumental Stela' c.1936 is a solid plaster cast, shown by x-rays to have been made in one spell, either cast, or carved from a block of plaster. There are filing marks on the surface of the plaster and air bubbles that indicate the cast was made quickly, consistent with its use as a working model. The cast is attached to a painted wooden base with two metal brackets, affixed with six screws on each bracket on the reverse side.A label affixed to the base of the model bears the name 'John Funk' and a San Francisco address. There was a Bay Area architect of that name who is known to have visited London in the 1930s. Despite research in the University of California at Berkeley, where the Funk archives are held, nothing more has emerged about the connection. The Estate have concluded that Funk may have acquired or been given the cast from Hepworth, and it was intended to travel to America but for some reason remained in London.