Jim Cooper (1992) ‘Recumbent’ Nude Figurative Terracotta Sculpture

This nude figurative terracotta sculpture titled ‘Recumbent’ is one of a series of sculptural subjects we are selling that capture the female form by British contemporary artist, Jim Cooper. Although this one is unsigned, others are signed and dated with 1991 or 1992.

While not much is known about the artist, Cooper’s works are distinguishable at first glance, capturing the human form in various poses across many mediums. This one depicts the complete figure of a nude lady in a lying down position, one arm tucked beneath her head as if relaxed and knees bent slightly resting to the side. Unusually, this is one of the few of these terracotta sculptures where the woman’s face is visible; others are depicted without the head in view or with the face covered in some way.

Likely artistic maquettes for works in other mediums, these terracotta sculptures have a simple and naturalistic quality with the marks of the maker evident throughout. In many of the pieces, you can see where each of the figures has been added to with small pieces of terracotta pressed and sculpted into the design!

We recently acquired several pieces from the studio of Jim Cooper which can be found in their own exclusive collection on our website here.