In a previous “Look Here” post, I uploaded a series of photos of a painting in progress by Jeffrey Jones along with a photo of the small sculpture of a caveman (also by Jones) which provided the figure reference for said painting. In response to that post, in which I said that I wished the images were larger, an RCN reader, Patrick Hill, kindly offered to send me a larger photo of the sculpture. Of course, I immediately accepted Patrick’s offer, and a very short time later, what to my wondering eyes should appear in my email box but a series of detailed views of not one but two sculptures by Jeffrey Jones (all photographs by Patrick Hill; click images to enlarge, as usual):

And as if that weren’t enough, along with the terrific photographs displayed above, Patrick also provided the following historical/contextual information:

There were three distinct castings of this GIRL sculpture. The first was a group of ~10 that Jones gave to various individuals to advertise his capabilities or as gifts of gratitude. These were cast in actual plaster in 1970 and were signed by Jeff in ballpoint pen.

The second casting was an edition of ~100 in Vatican Stone (which is less brittle/more durable than plaster), signed by Jones in ballpoint pen, also from 1970. Several of these were damaged in shipping to customers, so the quantity of undamaged pieces is less than the edition of 100.

The third casting (the one in the first few photos), also in Vatican Stone, was prepared in 1976, and was marketed by Robert Weiner via his TKII imprint. The third series was also of ~100, but was not signed.

All versions were cast and hand-finished by Jones.

The caveman was merely a casting of 100 in Vatican Stone, hand-finished by Jones. Jones posed for the man and did the girl from his head…

My favourite details: (1) Jones signed two editions of castings in ballpoint pen, (2) Jones himself was the model for the caveman sculpture, and (3) Jones produced the sculpture of the girl from imagination.

In conclusion, thanks again, Patrick, for enabling those of us who will probably never get to hold one of Jones’s little sculptures in their hands to examine two of those works from a variety of angles, up close and personal, as it were. Your contribution to RCN is much appreciated!