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Artist: Edward Delaney RHA (b.1930) Title: Horse and Cart Medium: unique bronze Size: 27½ x 46 x 18cm (10.8 x 18.1 x 7.1in) Provenance: Collection of C. J. Haughey, Abbeyville House, Kinsealy, Co. Dublin; Adam's and Bonhams, Important Irish Art Sale - 10th June 2009, lot 57; Private Collection Exhibited: Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, 'Edward Delaney Bronzes from the Sixties Exhibition' - December 2004 to January 2005 Literature: Edward Delaney Bronzes from the Sixties', full page illustration p.31 a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} In this powerful equestrian bronze by Delaney, a horse trots along, pulling a cart. Although a sculpture from the twentieth century, Horse and Cart is also timeless. The artist’s use of scale and proportion lends the work a monumental air. The bronze was cast and patinated by Delaney, using the lost... Read more Edward Delaney Lot 93 - 'Horse and Cart' Estimate: €5,000 - €7,000 In this powerful equestrian bronze by Delaney, a horse trots along, pulling a cart. Although a sculpture from the twentieth century, Horse and Cart is also timeless. The artist’s use of scale and proportion lends the work a monumental air. The bronze was cast and patinated by Delaney, using the lost wax method at his own foundry in Stoneview Place, Dun Laoghaire, investing it with an autograph feel, as opposed to the highly-finished bronzes generally produced in commercial foundries. One of the leading Irish sculptors of the latter half of the twentieth century, Edward Delaney studied at the National College of Art, trained in Germany and Italy, and is best known for monumental public works in Dublin such as Wolfe Tone and Famine Group (1967) on Stephens Green and Thomas Davis (1966) on College Green. However he was also a talented painter and illustrator, designing record covers for the Chieftains and sets for the Abbey Theatre. Growing up in Claremorris, Co. Mayo, Delaney was familiar with horses from an early age. Aged fourteen he left school and sought an apprenticeship as a jockey at the Curragh in Kildare. However his weight meant that he was unable to pursue this career. Spurning conventional education, Delaney then headed for Dublin where he led a peripatetic existence, meeting up with Brendan Behan and deciding to become an artist. He remained fascinated with horses, seeing in them a connection with Ireland’s mythic past as well as a living present. In his sculptures, horses rear up, or lean forward, hoof raised. He was inspired to become a sculptor on reading a book on Benin bronzes, and while his work is resolutely of the twentieth century, the influences of Cycladic sculpture, Benin, and ancient Chinese Han art can be discerned in his representations of horses. In later years, Charles Haughey was among the collectors who acquired his work, and at Haughey’s home ‘Abbeville’ in Kinsealy, a silver horse by Delaney was displayed alongside an equestrian sculpture by Henry Moore This sculpture of a horse and cart is also from the Charles Haughey collection. Delaney’s life and work has been chronicled by his son Eamon in the book Breaking the Mould: A Story of Art and Ireland. Peter Murray, January 2023