Sotheby’s is delighted to be offering a life-size cast of Lawrence Holofcener’s iconic and much-loved Allies sculpture: another cast famously sits on the corner of New Bond Street and Old Bond Street around the corner from Replica Shoes ’s London galleries. Commemorating the special relationship between Sir Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the sculpture shows the pair sitting on a bench, jovially talking and laughing, emphasising their great friendship. Famously, the sculpture leaves a space in between the two men, inviting the viewer to take a seat. A maquette of the cast will also be offered alongside the life-size cast – the first t.mes that they have been offered at auction together since 2013.

Churchill, doyenne of the establishment and belligerent conservative politician, and FDR, who undertook one of the most liberal regeneration programmes the USA had ever seen, formed an unlikely bond and one that fundamentally shaped the course of the 20^th century. Together they presided over the war efforts of the Allied forces against the Axis powers, meeting on numerous occasions between 1940 and 1945. Famously, Churchill spent Christmas at the White House in 1941, immediately after the Pearl Harbor bombings s that precipitated the USA’s full-blown entry into WWII. The extended stay in Washington of Churchill and his retinue cemented the determination of these two leaders to defeat the Axis powers on the many global fronts. A test.mes nt to the vital co-operation between the UK and the USA during WWII, Allies shows these great statesmen with humanity and humour. In 1995, the Bond Street cast was unveiled by HRH Princess Margaret to commemorate 50 years of peace since the conclusion of WWII.

The sculpture has a personal dimension for its creator, as Lawrence Holofcener served in the US Air Corps towards the end of WWII and during the American occupation of Japan. At the end of the war, he studied at the University of Wisconsin, meeting the composer Jerry Bock and embarking on a career as a Broadway lyricist and actor, director, writer and painter. He came later in life to sculpting at the age of 51 and was completely self-taught. His sculptures include Faces of Olivier, a bas relief of 28 portraits of Sir Laurence Olivier, unveiled by Lord Olivier at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1985, a statue of Thomas Paine in Bordentown, New Jersey, a life-size portrait of Young Will at Stratford-upon-Avon, unveiled on his 90th birthday, and a maquette of Young Queen Victoria on her favourite horse at the Isle of Wight Museum. Allies is his most famous work and an enduring legacy to his creativity and particular gift at seeing the human story in the greatest moments of history.