Bust of Queen created by Chinese sculptor looks more like Hollywood legend Tom

  03 November 2015    Read: 1068
Bust of Queen created by Chinese sculptor looks more like Hollywood legend Tom
A Chinese artist has unveiled a bust of the Queen which has an uncanny resemblance to Tom Hanks.
Sculptor Chen Dapeng revealed the porcelain bust of the Queen to mark the opening of the London Winter Olympia Art & Antiques exhibition.

It may have set the record for the largest ever piece of Chinese white porcelain, but it has been mocked for looking more like the American actor than Her Majesty.

Mr Chen, from Shanghai, created the bust to commemorate the `gesture of reconciliation` between Britain and China which he claimed showed the Queen `bursting out as a flower from a bud`.

Last month the Queen described President Xi Jinping`s State visit to Britain as a `defining moment` in the future of Sino-UK relations, while the Chinese leader spoke of the `everlasting friendship` between the two countries.

During a plush State banquet, the Queen referred to the first visit by a Chinese premier for a decade as a `milestone in the unprecedented year of co-operation and friendship between the United Kingdom and China`.

President Xi and his folk singer wife Peng Liyuan also stayed at Buckingham Palace during their four-day visit.

Mr Chen spent three months sculpting the Queen in clay, using photographs, videos and even a biscuit tin to perfect his work, before firing the finished product in a kiln.

It took 13 attempts before an intact version came out of the factory and the finished article weighs 20kg.

Referring to his record-breaking work of art, Mr Chen said: `I can see that your British Queen is a remarkable and wonderful person who has served the British people well. As an artist, I can see the wisdom and kindness in her features.

`My sculpture is offered as a gesture of reconciliation between our two peoples.`

Art critic Mark Hudson said Mr Chen had struggled to create the most accurate depiction of the Queen as he not been able to sculpt her from life.



He told the Daily Telegraph: `I`m afraid it doesn`t really look like the Queen, that`s the first thing that strikes you.

`It`s rather out of proportion, the back of the head is too large and he has given her a bit of a boxer`s chin. It`s ended up looking a bit like Tom Hanks.`

The bust is one of 49 works produced by Mr Chen that will appear at the fair at Olympia, in West London, until Sunday. This includes one piece that `portrays elements of the Chinese soul` that is being sold for £40m.

The bust has been offered to Her Majesty as a gift, but if it is not accepted by Saturday then there is an offer from a Chinese investor to purchase it for £300,000.

Paul Harris, who organised the display of Mr Chen`s work, told MailOnline: `He (Mr Hudson) is saying those things to be controversial. I don`t remember Tom Hanks usually wearing a gold crown.

`I think he`s making a comment to be amusing. We think it`s a pretty fair representation of Her Majesty.

`The lady is 89 years old and she is no longer a spring chicken and Mr Chen has produced a sculpture as he sees her, which is as a kind and understanding old lady. He is not trying to glamorise her.`

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