South African Interest: Christine M Stockdale (1881-1933) Zu...

Estimate

£400 - £600

South African Interest: Christine M Stockdale (1881-1933)
Zulu Warrior and Woman
A pair of early 20th century patinated bronze figures of a standing warrior with shield and assegai, together with a standing woman with a pot on her head and baby on her back, signed, each 38cm high. (2)

Christine M Stockdale (1881-1933)
Born in South Africa, Stockdale worked in both London and South Africa and was amongst the relatively small group of women working as sculptors in the Edwardian period particularly in South Africa. Her recorded dates are often confused with those of an aunt of the same name, who pre-deceased her by a year. William Kineton Parkes singled Stockdale out as one of the noteworthy sculptors in London who specialised in animal stone carving. Born in South Africa to an English father, she was the niece of the Sister Henrietta Stockdale (1847-1911), the British nursing pioneer and Anglican religious sister, an important and celebrated figure in the foundation of South African healthcare. Christine returned to England and studied in Birmingham although returned to South Africa during World War I where she worked for various patrons including the Friesland Breeders Association, working on two of their trophies depicting cattle. She returned to London establishing a studio in Hammersmith after the war and she travelled internationally. In London Stockdale sought primarily animal commissions relying on London Zoo for sketching the more exotic animals she had access to in South Africa. Although little is known of her later career, it seems that she was dogged by fragile health and died in Salisbury in 1933.