A bronze model of the Mahatma Gandhi statue that stands in a central London square is set to be auctioned and could sell for thousands of pounds.
The 27cm (10.6in) tall piece is the earliest complete vision of the sculpture which has been in Tavistock Square, Camden, since 1968. Auctioneers Woolley and Wallis have given it an estimate of £6,000 to £8,000, though experts believe it may achieve a higher sum.
Both the full-size statue and its preliminary models were created by Polish sculptor Fredda Brilliant, whose “growing reputation” was noted by Woolley and Wallis specialist Victor Fauvelle. A previous sale in 2019 saw Brilliant’s second model of the Indian independence leader fetch £65,000 from a private collector.
Mr Fauvelle said: “Given Fredda’s growing reputation and the fierce bidding we’ve seen for her Gandhi works in the past, the emergence of this first maquette from a private London collection is significant. It offers collectors an exceptional chance to secure the piece that set one of Fredda’s most internationally recognised monuments and sculpture in motion.”
In September, the statue in Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury, was vandalised with the word “terrorists” spray-painted on it. The Indian High Commission said it was “deeply saddened” by the act, describing it as “a violent attack on the idea of nonviolence”.
The model will be offered at Woolley and Wallis’s modern British and 20th century art sale on Thursday.
