Sculpture is often regarded as a rather serious, even earnest art form. This may be influenced by the hardness and permanence of most materials used in sculpture. And much like early photography, where sitters typically were depicted as rather serious and formal, perhaps the softness that a smile can give is often not part of the brief to the sculptor. So I’d imagined that it would be difficult to find many examples of figurative sculpture and portrait busts showing people smiling, or even having a chuckle. Happily, I was wrong.
Here are examples of broad, happy smiles; from the earliest cheeky faces of gargoyles, to important figures from the past beaming from ear to ear, right through to creative contemporary sculpture.
Betty Boothroyd (b.1929), Baroness Boothroyd OM, PC, Hon., FSLL 2002
Shenda Amery (b.1937)
Bronze
H 63 x W 45 x D 20 cm
Sandwell Museums Service Collection
Richard Sefton (1935 or 1936–2008)
Metal
H 14 x W 8.5 x D 8.5 cm
National Motor Museum Trust
Alfred Thomas Eggington (b.1888)
Nirava Kavya
Bronze & wood
H 55 x W 42 x D 28 cm
Leicestershire County Council Museums Service
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas (1908–1987), CBE 1981
David Tinker (1924–2000)
Plaster
H 18 x W 15 x D 15 cm
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales
Primrose 1874
Robert Glassby (1835–1892)
Terracotta
H 36 x W 26 x D 22 cm
Rotherham Heritage Services
Head of a Small Boy 1946
Bruno Simon (1920–1999)
Bronze
H 22.5 x W 4.4 x D 5.5 cm
Nottingham City Museums & Galleries
Bust of a Woman 1952
Giacomo Manzù (Manzoni) (1908–1991)
Bronze
H 60 x W 45 x D 32 cm
Estorick Collection, London
Elsie Widdowson (1906–2000) 1974
Margo Bulman (1913–2003)
Bronze
H 31.5 x W 16.5 x D 20 cm
The Royal Society
Dr Robert Woof (1931–2005) 2006
Andrew Sinclair (b.1961)
Bronze
H 35 x W 26.5 x D 27 cm
The Wordsworth Trust
Lionel Tertis (1876–1975), Holding his Viola 2006
Benjamin Dearnley (b.1964)
Bronze
H 63 x W 53.5 x D 40 cm
Royal Academy of Music
Sir Naim Dangoor (1914–2015) 2017
Nadey Hakim (b.1958)
Bronze
H 47 x W 43 x D 35 cm
Royal Society of Medicine
Richard Sefton (1935 or 1936–2008)
Metal
H 14 x W 8.5 x D 9 cm
National Motor Museum Trust
Laughing Boy mid-18th C
Joseph Nollekens (1737–1823) (possibly)
Terracotta
H 34.3 cm
National Museums Scotland
George Richmond (1809–1896)
Plaster
H 57.5 x W 28.5 x D 27 cm
Keble College, University of Oxford
Joshua Wall (1835–1869) (possibly)
Plaster & granite
The Stroud District (Cowle) Museum Trust Collection
'Now ... call forth your actors' 1973
Nancy Edwards (b.1926)
Fibreglass
H 134 x W 100 x D 90 cm
Chelmsford Museums
Johnny the Jig 1952
Sophia Rosamond Praeger (1867–1954)
Plaster
H 105 x W 44 x D 40 cm
Ards and North Down Borough Council
George Alfred Holman (1911–1980)
Plaster
H 50.7 x W 46.5 x D 24 cm
Southend Museums Service
Max Miller (1894–1963) 2003–2005
Peter Webster (b.1958)
Bronze & limestone facing over concrete
H 276 x W 60 x D 60 cm
John Bird as a Boy c.1925–1935
Cecil Thomas (1885–1976)
Bronze
H 34 x W 19 x D 21 cm
Roebuck Collection
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875)
Bronze
H 51.5 x W 24 x D 26 cm
Manchester Art Gallery
John Meirion Morris (1936–2020)
Bronze
H 31 x W 21 x D 18 cm
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales
Canon Thomas Gisborne (1758–1846) 1840
Charles Raymond Smith (c.1799–1888)
Marble
H 70.5 x W 49.5 x D 27 cm
Durham University
Linda 1951
Barbara Tribe (1913–2000)
Terracotta & wood
H 23 x W 16.5 x D 13 cm
Penlee House Gallery & Museum
Enoch Wood (1759–1840)
Biscuitware
H 51 x W 70 x D 26 cm
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
Charlotte Gray c.1908
Edwin Whitney-Smith (1880–1952) (after)
Plaster
H 42 x W 13.5 x D 14 cm
The Munnings Art Museum
Rakan, Han-taku-ka Figure 1868–1912
unknown artist
Porcelain, paint & gilding
H 22.9 cm
Horniman Museum and Gardens
Lord Lindsay of Birker (1879–1952)
Jacob Epstein (1880–1959)
Plaster
H 41 x W 25 x D 25 cm
Keele University Art Collection
Gordon C. Brown
Bronze & marble
H 43 x W 38 x D 19.5 cm
The University of Nottingham
Moyang Pipit (the Sparrow Spirit) 1989
Semi bin Awas (active 1987–1989)
Wood
H 30.5 x W 13.5 x D 19.5 cm
Horniman Museum and Gardens
Marianne (1800–1862), Lady Clifford Constable 1830s
Lorenzo Bartolini (1777–1850) (attributed to)
Marble
H 79 x W 49 x D 29 cm
Burton Constable Hall
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) as a Corbel 1920
William Alex Culliford
Wood
H 38 x W 19.9 x D 18.2 cm
Amgueddfa Lloyd George Museum
The April Fool 1978
Anthony Earnshaw (1924–2001)
Plastic & wood
H 50.5 x W 34 x D 14.3 cm
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre
Second Portrait of George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) 1934
Jacob Epstein (1880–1959)
Cast bronze
H 40.5 x W 22.5 x D 28 cm
Bolton Library & Museum Services, Bolton Council
Lydia Lopokova (1892–1981) 1960
Jacob Epstein (1880–1959)
Bronze
H 41 x W 24 x D 27 cm
University of Aberdeen
The Doctor Laughs 1880–1900
Percy Fitzgerald (1834–1925) (attributed to)
Plaster
H 28 x W 17.5 x D 12.5 cm
Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum
Donald Campbell (1921–1967), World Land and Water Speed Record Holder 1964
Christian Forward (active 1964)
Clay
H 30 x W 17 x D 13 cm
The Ruskin Museum
Tragi-Comic 2002
Patricio Grose Forrester (b.1967)
Oil on raquet cover
H 80.5 x W 26.5 x D 3 cm
Essex Collection of Art from Latin America
Mr Nadhmi Auchi (b.1937), Philanthropist 2005
Nadey Hakim (b.1958)
Bronze
H 57 x W 46 x D 26 cm
Royal Society of Medicine
Mark Harvey (b.1913)
Bronze
H 50 x W 49 x D 27 cm
Garden City Collection
Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones (1908–1968) and Gwynneth Holt (1909–1995)
Plaster
H 16 x W 10 x D 16 cm
Chelmsford Museums
Voltaire (1694–1778) 18th C
Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741–1828)
Marble
H 48 x W 21 x D 17 cm
Taylor Institution, University of Oxford
Jean Illich (active 1924 or before)
Bronze
H 43 x W 23 x D 11 cm
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum
Italian Shepherd Boy 19th C
Italian School
Alabaster
H 83 x W 29 x D 49 cm
Brighton and Hove Museums and Art Galleries
'Oor Wullie': Verdant Works Statue 2016
Pam Kelly (b.1964)
Resin & paint
H 16.8 x W 21.5 x D 12.3 cm
Dundee Heritage Trust
Sir (Howard) Kingsley Wood (1881–1943) 1982
Peter Lambda (1911–1995)
Bronze
H 25.4 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London
William Reynolds-Stephens (1862–1943)
Plaster
H 21.5 x W 11 x D 12.5 cm
Nottingham City Museums & Galleries
Clementine, the Living Fashion Doll 2014
Mark Mander (b.1980)
Wood, paint, textiles & feathers
H 51 x W 40 x D 3.5 cm
Bruce Castle Museum (Haringey Culture, Libraries and Learning)
Michael Little 2009
Paul Bainbridge (b.1943)
Bronze & sandstone
H 44 x W 24 x D 33 cm
The Beacon Museum
Explore artists in this Curation
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Enoch Wood (1759–1840) -
Lorenzo Bartolini (1777–1850) -
Charles Raymond Smith (c.1799–1888) -
John Griffiths -
Christian Forward -
William Alex Culliford -
John Marder -
John Meirion Morris (1936–2020) -
George Richmond (1809–1896) -
William Reynolds-Stephens (1862–1943) -
unknown artist -
Barbara Tribe (1913–2000) -
Benjamin Dearnley (b.1964) -
Andrew Sinclair (b.1961) -
Shenda Amery (b.1937) -
Peter Webster (b.1958) -
Bruno Simon (1920–1999) -
David Tinker (1924–2000) -
Joseph Nollekens (1737–1823) -
Jacob Epstein (1880–1959) -
Italian School -
Robert Glassby (1835–1892) -
Patricio Grose Forrester (b.1967) -
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875) -
Giacomo Manzù (Manzoni) (1908–1991) -
Peter Lambda (1911–1995) -
Semi bin Awas -
Nancy Edwards (b.1926) -
Jean Illich -
Margo Bulman (1913–2003) -
Simon Axford Jones -
Cecil Thomas (1885–1976) -
Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741–1828) -
Richard Sefton (1935 or 1936–2008) -
A. Kaven -
Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones (1908–1968) -
Gwynneth Holt (1909–1995) -
George Alfred Holman (1911–1980) -
Ernest J. Lang -
Edwin Whitney-Smith (1880–1952) -
Paul Bainbridge (b.1943) -
Anthony Earnshaw (1924–2001) -
Nadey Hakim (b.1958) -
Pam Kelly (b.1964) -
Mark Mander (b.1980) -
Ambros Bei -
Joshua Wall (1835–1869) -
Percy Fitzgerald (1834–1925) -
Tom Leach
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Sophia Rosamond Praeger (1867–1954) -
Mark Harvey (b.1913) -
Nirava Kavya -
Gordon C. Brown -
Christine Charlesworth (b.1949)
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