The present study is one of a number of preliminary sketches done by the artist and is a design for a Door Knocker. A further example can be seen in Gaudier Brzeska Drawings by Horace Brodzky, illustrated pl.85. The door knocker was eventually made in bronze and two different versions are known to exist which Gaudier claimed to have cut directly in bronze. At least twenty two bronze casts have been taken from those two originals. (See for example, Door-Knocker, 1914, Kettle's Yard, University of Cambridge)

In 1914 Gaudier wrote: 'the door knocker is an instance of an abstract design seeming to amplify the value of an object as such. No more cupids riding mermaids, garlands, curtains-stuck anywhere! The technique is unusual; the object is not cast but cut out of solid brass. The forms gain in sharpness and rigidity.' (Allied Artists Association Exhibition, Holland Park Hall, July 1914, nos. 1348 and 1349).