EPHESIAN DIANA, 1967
Painted polystyrene tray mounted on hardboard and silver paint in a box frame.
19 x 11¾in. (48.3 x 30cm.)
Monogrammed and dated on the reverse.
Provenance
Bonhams, London, 20th September 1995, lot 566, as 1963.
Rosebery’s, London, 27th November 2001, lot 176, as 24⅜ x 16½in (62 x 42cm.). Reproduced in b/w in the catalogue, p16.
Christies, South Kensington, 4th December 2002, lot 489.
Bonhams, 13th July 2004, lot 42 as Ephesian Dreams, size 62 x 42cm.
With Red Raven Arts, London in July 2005.
Exhibited
Newlyn, Newlyn Art Gallery, 1967, No. 25.
Penzance, Newlyn Art Gallery, autumn exhibition, 1969, no. 78.
Bristol, Bristol Arts Centre, 1970, No. 38.
A fruit tray with rows of rounded indentations, turned over, has become the multiple breasts of Diana of Ephesus, goddess of fecundity; containers of a different nourishment.
Diana was the tutelary goddess of the Ephesians. Her Temple in Ephesus was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. Diana (known as Artemus to the Greeks) wore the Tower of Babel as a crown on her head. With her many-bosomed image, she represented fertility and sexuality. She is a divine mother figure.
Silver is the colour of the moon and the colour of the Goddess.