Professor Paul Beadle 1917- 1992 had a colourful and interesting career. He is remembered as a sculptor and from 1961until 1975 was Dean of Elam School of Art. In 1967 New Zealand switched from pounds sterling to decimal currency. Beadle was one of the designers of the new currency.

Born and trained in Britain, Beadle lived in Australia from 1944 until 1960 when he moved to Auckland. A larger than life bohemian figure Beadle, contributed as both an administrator and practitioner in the field of visual arts. He was one of the most prominent sculptors to emerge at this time, preferring figurative art to abstraction. For his little people sculptures, partly inspired by finely wrought chess-pieces, Beadle drew upon an amused observation of everyday life. In an interview with Gil Docking talked about seeing man as a rather funny little fellow. This small work is a fine example of Beadle's small scale works of early 1970s.