Poet Laureate sculpture unveiled

Motion with the wooden sculpture and bronze cast

A twice life-sized sculpture of Poet Laureate Andrew Motion has been unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The monumental wooden sculpture by Devon based artist Jilly Sutton, is carved from a tree once used as a shelter for racehorses at a Dartmouth paddock.

Motion, who is also a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, unveiled the work himself and said he was "honoured" to have it on display.

The National Portrait Gallery is "very pleased" with the sculpture

The sandblasted head, carved from lime wood is on show along with its bronze cast and shows the poet with his eyes downcast as if he were reading.

The artist said that the sculpture conveys a "quiet melancholy" which Motion, appointed Poet Laureate in 1999, said was characteristic.

Weathered effect

"I like the fact that it is in wood because of the poems I write about the countryside and because of my childhood," he said.

"It happens that the tree that it came from has a curious history and was planted on moor down in the west country and was used to keep ponies in."

He said he had been particularly pleased by the weathered effect on the forehead after the artist was forced to carve deep into the tree when she hit two large nails in the wood.

"I like the way that they get a ripple effect on the forehead as though I am thinking an idea and it gives a sense of weatheredness as though it has left its lines on you," he added.

There is something about the combination of wood and the sense of monumentality which fits well with his poetry

NPG director Charles Saumarez Smith

The sculptor met the Poet Laureate and his family during the eclipse weekend in 1999 and said he had been an excellent sitter for the carving.

"He has got a really good strong face and he is a very good sitter because he is still and he thinks a lot of the time," she said.

Charles Saumarez Smith, director of the National Portrait Gallery, said he was very pleased with the sculpture.

He said: "There is something about the combination of wood and the sense of monumentality which fits well with his poetry."

The sculpture is on public display at the NPG, and the bronze cast will be sold at the contemporary art fair in London next week.