Harbinger Bird II

Dame Elisabeth Frink was a sculptor and graphic artist, best known for her bronze sculptures of horses in the 1970s and 80s.

Born at Thurlow, Suffolk, in 1930, one of Frink’s earliest memories was of damaged bombers returning and crashing into flames at a nearby airfield. This experience influenced her early work, which is angular and menacing, including predatory birds, winged figures and dead or dying animals.

Harbinger Bird II has a barbaric, primordial appearance. Standing on long, powerful legs, its sharp beak thrusts forwards, as if ready to strike and tear at its prey.