The British artist Antony Grinling (1896-1982) learned to make sculpture in Sicily whilst recovering from gas poisoning endured as a soldier in World War I. On his return, he felt it was too late to become an art student. He worked in the family business instead, and in his free time made sculptures. Grinling loved well-seasoned wood. He made nudes and portraits, but also groups, such as the family group shown here. Carved from a large, solid piece of cedar wood, he has given it a smooth, glossy surface. Grinling used the grain and growth rings that show up on the surface of cut wood as darker curved lines, to give his sculptures depth and movement.