A collection of bronze sculptures created by the surrealist artist Salvador Dali is expected to fetch up to £1 million at auction in London.
The artist, who is better known for his paintings, created the 44 works despite the onset of Parkinson's disease.
The items, to be sold at Bonhams on Thursday, include a jewelled talisman, a dragon, a mythical lion and a silhouette of a flamenco dancer.
Isidro Clot, who commissioned the works, called them "Dalinian origami".
Dali created the sculptures by a swimming pool at his summer residence in Port Lligat, Spain through the difficult "lost wax" medium.
'True modelling'
The process involved working at speed to knead quick-cooling wax into its final form before it hardened, then using the wax sculpture as a mould for the molten bronze.
The wax model was destroyed or "lost" when the finished article was removed from it, thus making the finished unique piece.
The collection was created for the company Diajasa, owned by the Clot family, who were close friends of Dali.
"As Dali's friend, I could stay at his side chatting non-stop while his hands created the pieces of the collection," recalled Isidro Clot, who described the method as "wisely folding instead of true modelling".
A Bonhams spokesman said: "The works are fluid in style, which indicates the pleasant atmosphere of freedom in which these sculptures of the Clot Collection were created."
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