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The Sphinx sculpting journey

  • The Sphinx sculpting journey

The sculpting journey of the sphinx

Notes by Mark Swan

 

Sculpting of the sphinx My part in sculpting of the Sphinx of the Gloucestershire Regiment began when I was chatting to Martin Vine, old friend and fellow ex Gloster Officer, at a regimental lunch on the Havengore (Churchill’s funeral barge). However, my association with the Gloster sphinx goes back to childhood and my fathers copy of the Wonder Book of Soldiers published circa 1925, which had a drawing of the sphinx cap badge. I often read this book and remember being impressed by the sphinx as a badge rather than a horse or lamb, and the text which referred to the regiment ‘possessing the peculiarity’ of wearing it fore and aft in recognition of its unique claim. Being brought up to consider the infantry as Queen of the battlefield, I was lucky and privileged to find myself in the Glosters and develop a far closer association with the sphinx. The Inspiration Yet my previous association with this mythical beast was not only via the military, my great grandfather was an accomplished sculptor and executed a commission of over life size lions for the Rhodes memorial in Cape Town.

He was inspired by the avenue of the sphinxes in Luxor. As a sculptor he was an honorary animalier and part of his research for the commission was spent in Egypt where as well as sketching the avenue, he also made drawings of the sphinx of giza. These and the bronze study for the lions have been constant companions for as long as I can remember and probably served as subliminal influence in my work. 1 2 3 Choosing the right sphinx After Martin’s & my discussion on Havengore, I compiled a file of various representations of the regimental badge including that in the Wonder Book of soldiers. I also looked at various representations of the sphinx in sculpture. There is an excellent version in the park in Gloucester, but I wasn’t convinced it was suitable for the task in hand. My thinking was influenced by which representation would be most familiar for those who served in the regiment and may wish to visit the memorial. Of course it had to be the badge that all Glosters wore. Here too though there are countless variants. I was looking for one which would read well at a distance while having a pleasing (very subjective this) proportion and eventually chose the badge held in the Imperial War Museum collection. 4 Designing of the sphinx I attach a collection of images which show the reference I chose, the sphinx separated from the badge as it would fit on the memorial and my drawing scaling up to the finished size. It was necessary to keep the sphinx on its own base of the same material referring to the proportions of the EGYPT inscription panel of the badge. As well as being a familiar aesthetic, this device allowed me to effectively ‘underline’ the sculpture while providing some extra lift to give better visibility of the Sphinx when approaching the memorial given the overall height. 5 Bringing the sphinx to life The fun part of the modelling is turning what is a two dimensional reference into three, which is where the face when viewed from the front becomes important. I followed the reference to create the profile first, then modelled the width by eye. Arguably this part is where I worked most from ‘inspiration’ and any inscrutability crept in maybe as a result of a symbiosis between the sphinx and the average infantryman’s character, my part being that of the sentient tool unconsciously interpreting. I also attach some images of the finished clay which show the sphinx from a perspective difficult to see now all is in place. 6 The finishing I was asked to have the sphinx finished in a metallic yellow colour, I imagine to fit with the regimental colours. We could have painted the work in primrose yellow, but I thought the yellow could be associated with polished brasses and appropriate for soldiers, as well as providing some glint at a distance. By the way we have a mould now should any copies be requested. Sculpting of the sphinx My part in sculpting of the Sphinx of the Gloucestershire Regiment began when I was chatting to Martin Vine, old friend and fellow ex Gloster Officer, at a regimental lunch on the Havengore (Churchill’s funeral barge). However, my association with the Gloster sphinx goes back to childhood and my fathers copy of the Wonder Book of Soldiers published circa 1925, which had a drawing of the sphinx cap badge. I often read this book and remember being impressed by the sphinx as a badge rather than a horse or lamb, and the text which referred to the regiment ‘possessing the peculiarity’ of wearing it fore and aft in recognition of its unique claim. Being brought up to consider the infantry as Queen of the battlefield, I was lucky and privileged to find myself in the Glosters and develop a far closer association with the sphinx. 1 The inspiration Yet my previous association with this mythical beast was not only via the military, my great grandfather was an accomplished sculptor and executed a commission of over life size lions for the Rhodes memorial in Cape Town.

He was inspired by the avenue of the sphinxes in Luxor. As a sculptor he was an honorary animalier and part of his research for the commission was spent in Egypt where as well as sketching the avenue, he also made drawings of the sphinx of giza. These and the bronze study for the lions have been constant companions for as long as I can remember and probably served as subliminal influence in my work. After Martin’s & my discussion on Havengore, I compiled a file of various representations of the regimental badge including that in the Wonder Book of soldiers. I also looked at various representations of the sphinx in sculpture. There is an excellent version in the park in Gloucester, but I wasn't convinced it was suitable for the task in hand. My thinking was influenced by which representation would be most familiar for those who served in the regiment and may wish to visit the memorial. Of course it had to be the badge that all Glosters wore. Here too though there are countless variants. I was looking for one which would read well at a distance while having a pleasing (very subjective this) proportion and eventually chose the badge held in the Imperial War Museum collection. Choosing the right sphinx 2 3 4 Designing of the sphinx I attach a collection of images which show the reference I chose, the sphinx separated from the badge as it would fit on the memorial and my drawing scaling up to the finished size. It was necessary to keep the sphinx on its own base of the same material referring to the proportions of the EGYPT inscription panel of the badge. As well as being a familiar aesthetic, this device allowed me to effectively 'underline' the sculpture while providing some extra lift to give better visibility of the Sphinx when approaching the memorial given the overall height.
5 Bringing the sphinx to life The fun part of the modelling is turning what is a two dimensional reference into three, which is where the face when viewed from the front becomes important. I followed the reference to create the profile first, then modelled the width by eye. Arguably this part is where I worked most from 'inspiration' and any inscrutability crept in maybe as a result of a symbiosis between the sphinx and the average infantryman's character, my part being that of the sentient tool unconsciously interpreting. I also attach some images of the finished clay which show the sphinx from a perspective difficult to see now all is in place. 6 The fun part of the modelling is turning what is a two dimensional reference into three, which is where the face when viewed from the front becomes important. I followed the reference to create the profile first, then modelled the width by eye. Arguably this part is where I worked most from 'inspiration' and any inscrutability crept in maybe as a result of a symbiosis between the sphinx and the average infantryman's character, my part being that of the sentient tool unconsciously interpreting. I also attach some images of the finished clay which show the sphinx from a perspective difficult to see now all is in place. The finishing The Rhodes memorial in Cape Town The Rhodes Memorial in Cape Town Glosters badge held in the Imperial War Museum collection Glosters badge held in the Imperial War Museum collection