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Henry Moore 1898-1986 Mother and Child on Ladderback Rocking Chair, 1952 Conceived in 1952 and cast between 1952-54 by the Art Bronze Foundry, Gaskin's in an edition of 9 plus 1 AC Bronze 8 ¼ x 7 3 ⁄ 8 x 2 ¾ in, 21 x 18.8 x 7 cm Provenance Private Collection, California Private Collection (acquired in c. 1980) Literature H. Read, Henry Moore: Sculpture and Drawings Since 1948, London, 1955, no. 42, illus. of another cast J. Hedgecoe, Henry Moore, New York, 1968, fig. 1, p. 178, illus. of another cast P. James, Henry Moore on Sculpture, London, 1968, pl. 45, pp. 10 and 140 illus. of another cast I. Jianou, Henry Moore, Paris, 1968, no. 293, p. 77 R. Melville, Henry Moore: Sculpture and Drawings, 1921- 1969, London, 1970, no. 429, p. 356, illus. of another cast Lefevre Gallery, Small Bronzes and Drawings by Henry Moore, London, 1972, no. 23, pp. 6, 52-53, illus. of another cast D. Mitchinson, Henry Moore Sculpture, London, 1981, no. 222, pp. 114 and 311, illus. of another cast Palacio de Velazquez, Henry Moore: Sculpture, Drawings and Graphics: 1921-1981, Madrid, 1981, no. 200, pp. 33 and 35, illus. of another cast A. Bowness, Henry Moore: Complete Sculpture, 1949-1954, Vol. II, London, 1986, no. 312, p. 39, illus. of another cast S. Compton, Henry Moore, London, 1988, no. 123, p. 231, illus. of another cast " The rocking chair sculptures were done for my daughter Mary as toys which actually rock". – Henry Moore Moore designed Mother and Child on Ladderback Rocking Chair as a toy for his daughter Mary who had been born six years prior. Moore wanted the sculpture to be engaging and entertaining for Mary, gently swaying back and forth when she played with it. The texture of the surface reinforce the tactility and a desire to reach out and touch the work. The theme of the mother and child is recurrent throughout Moore's oeuvre being a father, with his role as parent giving new and complex insights into the relationship between mother and child. Moore's wife Irina had a rocking chair in which she nursed Mary, which inspired a great number of Moore's drawings and sculptures between 1947 and 1952, including the present. In Mother and Child on Ladderback Rocking Chair the woman gently plays with the child on her knee, with one being able to imagine she is herself rocking the chair back and forth to amuse her child. 52