Fredericks completed this sculpture after graduation from the Cleveland School of Art while traveling and studying in Germany in 1931. The subject appears to have been a Japanese student Fredericks met in Europe.
This portrait head of Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) is four times the size of life in heroic-scale. Compared with the idealized style of most of Fredericks' works, his portrait style is more realistic though simplified.
The Roman god Mercury was a messenger for the gods and patron of racing and athletes. His special duty was to conduct the souls of the dead to the underworld. In time he also became the Roman god of commerce and merchants. His attributes were…