Alan Ingham's sculptures combine the formalism of British modernism in sculpture, with a unique and identifiably New Zealand lens. Early in his career, Ingham had been heavily influenced by the carvings of his contemporary Russell Clark. This formative engagement with Maori design and carving would bear out in both the aesthetic and philosophical concerns of his work. Also crucial to the development of his unique artistic identity was a European tour he embarked on in 1949. In the artist's words: I'd planned my European tour by searching through my books of sculpture and finding where they were located….but constantly found other things of course, small Etruscan bronzes for example, that hadn't been photographed or published. This opened up a whole new world for me.

During the time Ingham lived in London he worked as an assistant to Henry Moore. Not only did this enable him to develop a mastery of the highly complicated bronze casting technique, but it informed his artistic worldview with Moore's own ground-breaking advancements in modern British sculpture.

Works by Ingham are rarely offered for sale, making the presentation of these sculptures for auction an exciting occurrence. They possess a certain languid elegance which, offset by the fluidity of their modern forms, speaks a timeless and unique language of New Zealand mannerism. These works are, quite simply, national sculptural treasures.