Ferdinand is the main Salers bull on a farm near Beaumont-le-Roger, and every calf on the place traces back to him - which makes him something of a local legend, and gives him the kind of unbothered, territorial presence perfect for a portrait.

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Salers cattle are known for their deep mahogany coat and long, lyre-shaped horns sweeping outward and upward from the head - and on a bull of Ferdinand's standing, that's presence before he's even moved. I spent a week at the farm that October to sculpt a 1/4 life-size maquette, and the only real access I had was at feeding time, when he was settled enough to let me get close - sometimes close enough to touch - without ever forgetting who was in charge.

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​I brought the maquette home and used it as the reference for the full-size bronze that followed — every proportion and detail scaled up from what I'd actually seen and touched that week, rather than worked from photographs alone. The finished piece now stands on a Purbeck stone plinth outside the house at Beaumont-le-Roger.

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