Bidding has begun on a sculpture of Colonel Tom Moore made entirely from nails.

The sculpture, which was made over 15 days by hammering 50,000 nails into a 40 x 60cm board, was created by Marcus Levine, whose studio is based in Keighley, Yorkshire. The finished sculpture now weighs 16.4kg.

Colonel Tom Moore, known fondly by the nation as Captain Tom, made international headlines in April after raising £32.8 million for the NHS by walking laps around his garden on his 100^th birthday.

Mr Levine, 54, is well known around the world for his unique artwork and has created nail sculptures for a variety of famous people, including Vinnie Jones, Al Pacino and the Queen.

The sculpture of Colonel Tom is now being auctioned by Tennants Auctioneers with bids open until 11am 10^th June. There are hopes the portraits could attract bids into the thousands, with £10,000 already pledged. All proceeds from the sale will be evenly split between The Care Workers’ Charity and NHS Charities Together.

A limited run of 15 prints of the sculpture have also been made available for £275 each. All funds raised from the sale of the prints will be donated to The Care Workers’ Charity.

The nail sculpture was commissioned by Tim Lockett from Deliver Net (a Skipton based PPE distribution company), who wanted to draw people’s attention to the heroic sacrifices that care workers are making during the current Coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Levine has also documented the creation of the piece through setting up a camera which captured a time-lapse over its 15-day creation. The remarkable video can be found on Mr Levine’s Twitter @levine_art.

Speaking of his gratitude to care workers, Mr Levine said:

“I can only say from the bottom of my heart that you are all hero’s and I for one thank you for all the family’s you support & the sacrifices you are making, my admiration to you all.”

For more information on the auction and to register to bid, please visit: https://bid.tennants.co.uk/m/view-auctions/catalog/id/851

To purchase a print of the sculpture, please visit:
http://www.levine-art.co.uk/project/shop-limited-edition-prints/