War Horse sculpture

Scottish artist Laura Antebi drove all the way from Ayrshire to deliver a very special piece for the War Horse: Fact & Fiction exhibition.

Laura won the commission to create a unique horse sculpture for the Museum back in June 2011 – her individual style making her stand out from the competition. Working from memory, Laura moulds and shapes the contours of the horse’s body with galvanised steel wire to create a three-dimensional figure.

Drawing on the powerful story of Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse and inspired by the barbed-wire horses used as decoys during the First World War, Laura first produced a small maquette of the horse and presented it to the exhibition team in August. This gave an idea of the posture, shape and size of the completed sculpture and left everyone chomping at the bit to see the finished product.

And now, the life–size horse sculpture has hoofed its way into the gallery. Made entirely from fencing-wire and weighing approximately 200 kilograms, it’s hard to believe it took just ten weeks to complete.