Miniature bronze model of Mahatma Gandhi statue could fetch thousands at auction

The first model of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a central London square could fetch thousands after it goes under the hammer.

Made of bronze, the model is just 27cm (10.6in) tall and is the earliest complete vision of the statute that has stood in Tavistock Square in Camden since 1968.

Auctioneer Woolley and Wallis say the model is listed with an estimated price of £6,000 to £8,000 – but experts believe it could sell for more.

The statue and its models were created by Polish sculptor Fredda Brilliant, who Woolley and Wallis specialist Victor Fauvelle said has a “growing reputation”.

In a 2019 sale of 44 lots from her studio, her second model of the leader of the Indian nationalist movement against British rule sold to a private collector for £65,000, the auctioneer said.

Mr Fauvelle said: “Given Fredda’s growing reputation and the fierce bidding we’ve seen for her Gandhi works in the past, the emergence of this first maquette from a private London collection is significant.

“It offers collectors an exceptional chance to secure the piece that set one of Fredda’s most internationally recognised monuments and sculpture in motion.”

The model will be offered at Woolley and Wallis’s modern British and 20th century art sale on Thursday.