Description
FOR COLLECTORS OF THE EXTRAORDINARY — NOW ON EU Vintage
A defining icon of modern sculpture, Rock Drill by Jacob Epstein stands at the crossroads of innovation, industry, and human vulnerability.
First exhibited at the Brighton City Art Gallery in 1913, this radical work fused a carved figure with an industrial drill—an audacious early “readymade,” echoing the spirit of Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel.
Originally conceived as a powerful symbol of modernity and masculine force, Rock Drill embodied the energy and ambition of a machine age. But history reshaped its meaning.
In the wake of World War I—and personal loss, including friends T. E. Hulme and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska—Epstein dismantled the original. What remained became Torso in Metal from Rock Drill (1916): a haunting, truncated figure that speaks not of power, but of fragility, loss, and the human cost of industrial warfare.
Details
– Materials: Plaster and fiberglass
– Dimensions: H 45 cm × W 44 cm × D 33 cm
This is more than sculpture. It is a narrative in form—charting the shift from optimism to disillusionment, from machine worship to existential reflection.
Its legacy endures, inspiring artists from The Sensational Alex Harvey Band to The Chemical Brothers, and remaining a cornerstone of modern art history.
Acquire a piece of that legacy.
