In March 2015, the U.K. and China launched a year of cultural exchange that started with Prince William assisting U.K. animation studio Aardman in dotting the Chinese countryside with Shaun the Sheep sculptures.
About the same time, Shanghai sculptor Chen Dapeng began secretly sculpting a bust of Queen Elizabeth. It took the artist three months and 13 tries until he finally was satisfied with his final piece of work. The massive bust was unveiled this week at the Winter Art and Antiques Fair at Olympia in West London. It depicts the Queen “bursting out as a flower from a bud”.
There is a little problem, say some critics, regarding the bust of Her Majesty. Besides setting a record for the biggest piece of Chinese white porcelain, weighing an astounding 20 kilograms (41 pounds), it looks like a bit like Tom Hanks. That certainly was not Chen Dapeng’s intention, though. He used photographs, videos, and even a biscuit tin to get the features right.
“I can see that your British Queen is a remarkable and wonderful person who has served the British people well,” Dapeng was quoted as saying by Artnet News. “As an artist, I can see the wisdom and kindness in her features. My sculpture is offered as a gesture of reconciliation between our two peoples.”
According to the Telegraph, the reference to reconciliation may stem from some lingering resentment over the Royal Family’s association with the Opium Wars. In 1860, the English sacked an imperial palace, absconding with a Pekingese dog belonging to the Empress. The dog was presented to Queen Victoria at Balmoral, where the pup became known as “Looty.”
The Telegraph’s art critic, Mark Hudson was quoted by Vanity Fair as saying, the bust is “rather out of proportion, the back of the head is too large and he has given her a bit of a boxer’s chin. It’s ended up looking a bit like Tom Hanks. But it has a certain exuberance and if you like kitsch then why not? Good for him.”
The exhibition organizer Paul Harris points out just how difficult it is to work with Chinese white porcelain, which has 17 ingredients compared to two or three other forms of porcelain. The Winter Olympia Arts and Antiques Fair is being held in London From November 2 through November 8.
An interesting addition to the story is that while a spokesman for the artist said the bust had been offered to the Queen as a gift, Buckingham Palace told the Telegraph they have no record of the offer being made.
