Watchers and strangers were both themes that Lynn Chadwick returned to again and again throughout his early career. The lone figure sometimes seen as a pair or in three's, reduced to blocks of form and mass on spindly legs, could be seen as semi autobiographical or hark back to the lone sentry men Chadwick would have been familiar with during the war.

This small yet powerful maquette is the first of the series of Watchers Chadwick began in 1959. Having moved from London to Gloucestershire in the early 1950's Chadwick had by now moved into the medieval manor house Lypiatt Park where an abundance of space now allowed him to develop freely setting up his studio in the derelict chapel.