Donkey sculpture

Summary

Bronze statue of a donkey of 1935 by the Viennese sculptor Willi Soukop, installed in the gardens of Dartington Hall where Soukop taught and practised after he left Austria. It is an engaging sculpture of high artistic quality, demonstrating accomplished skill, detail and expression.

Reasons for Designation

Donkey, a sculpture on a stone base of 1935 by Willi Soukop, some 100m south-south-east of Dartington Hall, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* an engaging and playful sculpture of high artistic and aesthetic quality, that is subtly detailed and well-composed;
* it demonstrates accomplished skill, detail and expression, and is an early work by this recognised C20 sculptor.

Historic interest:

* for its recasting by Soukop in 1955 commissioned as a public set piece for the new town of Harlow; this later version is listed Grade II;
* it reflects the importance of Dartington as a learning ground for young artists, many of whom would go on to become leading figures in their field.

Group value:

* it derives group value from its setting within a Grade II* registered landscape and with other high-quality sculptures.

History

At the centre of the Dartington Hall Estate are the surviving parts of the great C14 medieval house (listed at Grade I, wider area scheduled), which was almost derelict by the time it was purchased by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst in 1925. The Elmhirsts set about using their substantial wealth to renovate Dartington Hall, beginning The Dartington Experiment, an experimental programme in rural regeneration based on modern methods of agriculture and forestry, progressive education, arts and architecture. Under the patronage of Dorothy and Leonard Elmhurst, Dartington was a hub for émigré artists, musicians, dancers and actors during the inter-war period, and it developed into a flourishing cultural community and a centre of innovation and influence. The couple made Dartington their home for the rest of their lives. 

The Elmhirsts also restored and further developed the garden and pleasure grounds (Grade II*, on the Register of Parks and Gardens) which lie principally to the south-west, south and south-east of the Hall, commissioning noted landscape garden designers, including Beatrix Farrand from around 1933 to 1939, and Percy Cane from 1945 to 1968. The couple commissioned sculptures and other ornaments for the garden; their acquisition spread over a 15 year period. The first to be installed was Willi Soukop’s Donkey in 1935.

Willi (Wilhelm Josef) Soukop (1907–1995) was born in Vienna, and studied sculpture at the city’s Academy of Fine Art. In 1934, he was invited to stay at Dartington which had become a refuge for many European artists and performers. There he took up a part-time teaching post and was given the use of a studio where he could work on his own pieces. Dartington had a tremendous effect on Soukop’s creative output that lasted for decades (Parkin, 1995). He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1935 and his first his solo exhibition was held in 1938 at the Storran Gallery in London, followed by one at the Stafford Gallery, also in London, in 1939. After a period of internment in Canada during the Second World War he returned to Dartington. During this period, he also established sculpture departments at schools at Tiverton, Blandford Forum and Malvern. In 1945 Soukop moved to London to teach firstly at Bromley College of Art, then at Guildford College of Art and at Chelsea School of Art (1947-1972) where Elizabeth Frink was one of his students. He worked in a variety of materials and styles, influenced by British and European modernism. His work was exhibited at the London County Council (LCC) open-air sculpture exhibitions in Battersea Park in 1949 and 1950. He undertook many commissions, including works for public and educational settings, such as Copper Horses for Sir James Altham Lower School, Oxhey, Hertfordshire (1951), Spirit of Adventure for Loughborough Training College, Leicestershire (1958), and Pied Piper, a mural in concrete for the Elmington Estate in Camberwell (1959). He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1956.

Donkey, which was first modelled in plaster and then cast in bronze, was originally one of Soukop’s exhibits on the Dartington stand at the 1935 Chelsea Flower Show. It did not sell at Chelsea, and the Elmhirsts bought it for Dartington. Several sites were considered within the garden before it was placed in its current location. Before long, it became a focal point for walks round the garden and much loved, especially by children.

In 1955 Soukop was commissioned to make a cast of Donkey for a public space in the new town of Harlow in Essex. The recast Donkey was listed at Grade II in 2016 and in 2017 it was voted Harlow's favourite sculpture. Two further casts of Donkey were made in 2023 by sculptor Luke Shepherd for the estate of Willi Soukop and for a private commission. A small repair was carried out on the original sculpture at the same time.

Details

Statue of a donkey, 1935 by sculptor Willi Soukop for Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst. It is situated about 100m south-south-east of Dartington Hall within the early and mid-C20 gardens.

It is a semi-figurative sculpture of a donkey, cast in bronze, and approximately 90cm in height. The head is bowed, with big eyes, incised nostrils, erect ears and a pronounced, stylised mane. It stands four-square on a bronze platform inscribed ‘W SOUKOP / 1935’, and a base of blue limestone blocks quarried from Buckfastleigh (Snell, 1989). The sculpture is worn to a polished finish.

Sources

Books and journals
Dartington Hall – II, Devon. The Home of an Experiment in Country Life, (3 September 19338), 232
Snell, R, From the Bare Stem: The Making of Dorothy Elmhirst's Garden at Dartington Hall, Devon, (1989)
Neima, A, Practical Utopia. The Many Lives of Dartington Hall, (2022), 169

Websites
Willi (Wilhelm Josef) Soukop (1907–1995). Biography. The Public Statues and Sculpture Association (PSSA), accessed 21 July 2025 from https://pssauk.org/public-sculpture-of-britain/biography/soukop-willi-wilhelm-josef/
Dartington Donkey – Making a Cast by Luke Shepherd, accessed 23 June 2025 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRiy-hGfDiY
Michael Parkin, Willi Soukop, obituary in The Independent, 9 February 1995, accessed 21 July 2025 from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-willi-soukop-1572170.html

End of official list entry

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