Bronze, Signed Hamish Mackie
Numbered Edition of 50
Dated 2025
13cm long x 9cm wide x 13cm high / 5″ x 3.5″ x 5″
Weight approx 4 kg
Sculptures can be shipped worldwide at cost, no VAT payable on exports outside the EU.
£3,500 inc VAT
Designed to be sold in Penhaligon’s global flagship stores, this limited edition scaled down version of their Lioness Table is sure to become a collectors piece.
In early 2025, I was approached by architect and interior designers Michalis Boyd, who are based in London and New York. They asked if I could create a sculptural table centrepiece for the relaunch of Penhaligon’s global flagship stores. Penhaligon’s are perfumers to the King under the Puig umbrella.
The commission called for a bronze lion table to display fragrance. It needed to be an object that could express heritage, authority, and craftsmanship within a contemporary retail setting.
As always, field research played a vital role in getting this commission right. In March 2025, I travelled to Tanzania to study lion in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater alongside our brilliant Nomad guide Joel. Observing lions in their natural environment remains key to my sculptural process, as I need to understand their movement, anatomy, and what they are about. This research built on earlier studies undertaken in Kenya for my life size lion sculptures completed in 2019. I spent two wonderful weeks in the bush sculpting lion from the back of landrover.
The original lion table was enthusiastically received by Penhaligon’s, leading to the development of a broader collection. This includes a circular Penhaligon’s Lioness Table, made as a matching pair to the Penhaligon’s Lion Table. Also in the collection is a smaller 40cm Penhaligon’s Lion Display Table, and a smaller bronze lion and this lioness scaled down. Together, these works sit at the intersection of sculpture, furniture, and design. Although conceived for a global luxury house, they are rooted in traditional making and intended to endure as highly collectible objects.
Poised between rest and movement, this bronze lioness captures the grace, strength and quiet confidence of one of Africa’s most iconic predators. Inspired by extensive field studies with Nomad in Tanzania, and Lewa and Borana in Kenya, the sculpture reflects the fluid elegant power of the lioness, with a sweeping S-curve through the spine, and flicking tail suggesting the moment before she rises and slips silently away. I’m really pleased with her eyes which have that feeling of a lion staring straight through you.
