Lydia
Entry ID
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59 (17/01/2022)
Formal title of the work
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Lydia
Description of the sculpture
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Bronze bust of Lydia with short, cropped hair.
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Lydia was a jazz singer and/or dancer, who was working as a waitress at a Chinese restaurant in London’s Wardour Street when Epstein met her.
URLs where this is recorded/available
Type of object
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Bust – Portrait
Base
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No base
Dimensions
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Height: 48 cm
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Width: 40 cm
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Depth: 20 cm
Materials
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Bronze
Specific techniques used
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Casting
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Patination
Overall colour
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Monochrome – brown
Does the Black person have a specific identity?
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Identifiable: specific individual
Identity of Black person (real or fictive)
Role within sculpture
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Main protagonist
Gender
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Female
Age
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Adult
Status
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Free citizen
Clothing
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No clothes included (head)
Evidence of enslavement
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None
Evidence of 'exotic' status
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None
Action or activity
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Not relevant (head)
Emotional state
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Neutral/emotionless
Focus of gaze of Black person
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Looking downwards
Sculptural context
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No location included/implied
Sculptor
Place of production
Period of production
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Twentieth century (1900-1999)
Date of Production
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1931
Date inferred from
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Recorded in related documentation
Original purpose
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Decorative
Original display setting
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Secular Civic: commercial building
Current owner
Current / most recently known location
Accession number
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1987-88
Provenance history
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1985: Bequest of Ethel Solomon
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R. E. Smith (provenance taken from Evelyn Silber, The Sculpture of Epstein, with a complete catalogue (Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1986), pp. 42 and 169, cat 209, illus. on the assumption that this is a unique piece since no other editions are listed)
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12th April 1967: Sotheby's, lot no. 79 (provenance taken from Evelyn Silber, The Sculpture of Epstein, with a complete catalogue (Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1986), pp. 42 and 169, cat 209, illus. on the assumption that this is a unique piece since no other editions are listed)
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May 1933: Leicester Galleries, London, no. 15 (provenance taken from Evelyn Silber, The Sculpture of Epstein, with a complete catalogue (Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1986), pp. 42 and 169, cat 209, illus. on the assumption that this is a unique piece since no other editions are listed)
Notes
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This is the second of three busts of Lydia created between 1929 and 1934.
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Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
 Lydia |
Identity of Black person (real or fictive) | E22 Man-Made Object |
http://13.41.147.145/s/database/item/21, . (no date) ‘Lydia’, Black People in European Sculpture, accessed May 5, 2025, http://13.41.147.145/s/database/item/499
