Troubles sculpture to be sold at auction in Shropshire

The sculpture will be sold at Halls Fine Art in Shrewsbury in December with an estimate of £25,000 to £30,000

A bronze sculpture by one of Ireland's most successful and influential artists is to be sold at auction in Shropshire.

Frederick Edward McWilliam's Women of Belfast depicts a female bomb victim in The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The artist created a series of female figures during the 70s in different poses "being violently blown through the air", auctioneers said.

The piece will be sold at Halls Fine Art in Shrewsbury on 6 December with an estimate of £25,000 to £30,000.

It is owned by a Midlands art collector who, auctioneers said, would be selling more items in future.

"The figure consigned to Halls Fine Art portrays a woman fighting to remain standing, her head bowed, limbs at unnatural angles and her clothing blown forcefully backwards by the sheer force of the explosion," Halls' fine art specialist Abigail Molenaar said.

"It stands at 61cm high (24 inches) and McWilliam portrays the whole of her body reacting against the blast. The figure is charged with energy, her body tense, trying to resist against an even more powerful force.

"The significance of these sculptures is no less poignant today, exemplifying the innumerable innocents caught up in modern conflicts worldwide."

Williams, who was born Bainbridge, County Down in 1909, was heavily influenced by his memories of violent clashes in his hometown, including seeing his own father treating a young child who had been shot in crossfire, auctioneers said.

The bombing of Abercorn Restaurant in Belfast in March in 1972 in which two young women lost their lives, prompted Women of Belfast' series.

Although he moved to London to work, some of his most acclaimed works focused upon his response to events in Ireland during the height of The Troubles, auctioneers said.