Born in New York in 1880, Epstein moved to London when he was twenty-five and lived in the city until he died aged 78. He was arguably one of the most controversial sculptor's working in the first half of the 20th century.
Epstein received his first major public commission in 1908 for the decoration of the new British Medical Association Building in the Strand. Epstein carved 18 larger than life size figures in varying stages of nudity. The figures caused a public outcry and Epstein became notorious. As a consequence, Epstein was only offered three large public commissions during the next thirty years. The most famous of these is the tomb of Oscar Wilde in Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, which was condemned as indecent and at one point was covered in tarpaulin by the French police.
However, in spite of this infamy, Epstein received a steady stream of commissions for bronze heads. He produced perceptive portraits of some of his famous contemporaries such as Joseph Conrad and Albert Einstein, as he had the ability to readily bring to life the characters of his subjects. Peggy Jean, Epstein's much-loved eldest daughter, was one of his favourite subjects especially when she was very young. This bronze, also known as the Fourth Portrait of Peggy Jean, shows her at the age of 18 months.
