Collection of iconic Hackney Empire statue sculptor goes up for auction

Michael Mason (left) with Hackney Empire sculpture, 1989. Photograph: Courtesy of Michael Mason (personal archive)

Michael Mason may not be a household name – but you will have seen his work looking over the borough from atop the Hackney Empire.

In 1988, Mason created the beautiful seven-foot-high statue of a Victorian woman to adorn the iconic building, restoring it to its former glory.

The artist worked for 200 hours to recreate the original sculpture from 1900, which was damaged and lost in the 1970s.

Today, the classical figure still stands at the head of the building and is one of Mason’s most iconic architectural commissions.

An acclaimed and influential artist, Mason’s creations have been exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery and in the private collection of the V&A.

However, he did not primarily produce pieces to sell during his career.

Michael Mason in his studio. Photograph: Courtesy of Michael Mason (personal archive)

Now, 65 lots of his original sculpture and ceramics will go to auction on Wednesday 15 October at Dore and Rees auctions, offering a unique opportunity to acquire his work.

Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, Mason studied sculpture and ceramics at Manchester College of Art and Design.

In 1976, he spent a year at the British School in Rome where he drew inspiration from Quattrocento paintings and Enzo Mari, the Italian modernist and furniture designer.

Before moving into primarily ceramic work, he used recycled timber to create large-scale pieces like 1977’s ‘Agincourt’ – a series of wooden planes slicing through space, and ‘Spectra’, which is reminiscent of a loom.

Michael Mason at work. Photograph: Courtesy of Michael Mason (personal archive)

Mason taught at the Manchester Metropolitan University from 1982 to 1996, becoming principal lecturer in sculpture.

The university gave him a paid break from teaching every Wednesday so that he could sculpt in his studio in Hale.

The sculptor’s work also took him farther afield, undertaking several extended periods of work and research in South America.

Works such as ‘Bridge Fish’, which feature in the October auction, is from his 1993 ‘Caroni Series’, named after the tributary of the Orinoco and produced as a result of residencies in Venezuela.

He explained that he took inspiration from “mysterious places, exotic cultures, history, physics, strange animals, myths and legends”.

But Mason also found inspiration from landscapes closer to home like Saddleworth Moor, Peak District.

Michael Mason’s ‘River Earth and Sky’ exhibition, 1995. Photograph: Courtesy of Michael Mason (personal archive)

There are architectural references and organic influences in the work which frequently feature carvings of dinosaurs, cooling towers, horns, bottle ovens and chimney pots, bleached bones and brick.

Mason read Lao Tzu and trained and taught Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung – which may be considered the physical representations of Taoist philosophy – commenting that he used “principles similar to these systems when making sculpture”.

Taoist philosophy is a Chinese tradition centred on living in harmony with the Tao, a universal principle of the natural world.

In his own words: “The clays, the heat, the oxides and even the water used to form the things I make are in many ways equivalent to the forces which originally shaped the earth. It is with this in mind that I make sculpture and ceramics”.

He went on to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and a Fellow of Sculpture at the British School in Rome.

Michael Lyons, vice-president of the Royal Society of British Sculptors said: “Michael Mason’s interests range from prehistoric art to art and physics, but fundamentally he is concerned with the way we perceive and interact with the natural world – and this is expressed in a language which is profoundly and fundamentally sculptural.”

Michael Mason sculptures from the Michael Mason Collection at Dore & Rees. Photograph: courtesy of Dore & Rees

A spokesperson for Dore and Rees auctions said: “Naturalistic and timeless, Mason’s sculpture and ceramics are as understated as they are eye-catching and would complement a variety of modern interiors.”

The Michael Mason Collection of 65 lots of original sculpture and ceramics will be offered within the 15 October Autumn Interiors Auction at Dore and Rees.