A rare carved and painted wooden swan by British artist Guy Taplin, dating from the 1980s.
The swan has a wonderfully elegant, elongated form, with a gracefully curved neck and the pared-back, almost folk-art quality characteristic of Taplin’s work. Its pale painted surface retains the weathering, texture and irregularities of the timber beneath, giving the sculpture considerable character.
The swan has been personally confirmed as his work by Guy Taplin, who identified it as probably dating from the 1980s. Taplin also confirmed that the sculpture was made from sacrificial timber, timber originally hung over a dock to protect it from damage. The history of the material is particularly appropriate to Taplin’s practice, in which found and reclaimed wood is transformed into his distinctive sculptural birds.
Taplin’s fascination with birds began early, but it was while working at Regent’s Park in London, where he became a keeper of the park’s ornamental waterfowl, that he first began carving birds. Inspired in part by traditional wooden decoys, he started making simple representations of the birds in his care and went on to develop the distinctive sculptural style for which he is now known. He later settled on the Essex coast, using driftwood and other found and reclaimed timbers to create his highly individual bird sculptures.
Correspondence directly from Guy Taplin confirming the attribution, approximate date and use of sacrificial dock timber can be made available to the purchaser.
Condition
Good overall condition, with wear commensurate with age and the nature of the reclaimed timber. There are areas of rubbing and paint loss, surface marks, minor splits and irregularities to the wood, all of which are visible in the photographs. The surface may have received some historic retouching or repainting, although this has not been established. Please refer closely to the photographs, which form part of the condition description.
Dimensions
Height: 44 cm (17.33 in)
Width: 67 cm (26.38 in)
Depth: 27 cm (10.63 in)
