This work is one of a number of bronzes, executed in the 1950s, in which Frink gave animal forms, particularly birds, a menacing, military appearance. Although only 38 cm tall, this bird appears simultaneously aggressive, powerful and like a damaged but defiant survivor of a nuclear attack. The strutting ravens at the Tower of London impressed Frink as a student and it is often remarked that she portrayed birds as creatures rooted to the ground, rather than in flight. There are six casts of this bronze (our cast is not numbered), plus at least one artist’s cast. Our bronze is believed to have been cast by the Fiorini Foundry in London.