This sculpture stands casually, smiling and wearing nothing but her hat. She seems fully relaxed and in control, leaning against a rail, coolly surveying all those that walk past her.

The pose and guise have long sculptural roots: Donatello’s David holds a similar classical pose, and is also young and sports only a pair a boots and an elaborate hat. Degas’ The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen stands with her feet in ballet’s fourth position, with her back arched and head tilted back.

This statue was presented to the University by Sir Robert and Lady Aitken, on Sir Robert’s retirement as Vice-Chancellor in 1968. The sculptor Bernard Sindall chose his own subject matter, and hoped that the statue would be ‘an object of pleasure to people.’