Bust of Winston Churchill (Epstein)

Jacob Epstein's bronze bust of Winston Churchill was completed in 1947 and cast in an edition often said to number 10 (but more, perhaps 12 or 16, are thought to exist).

By then, Churchill had left Downing Street, but his London residence at Hyde Park Gate was opposite Epstein's home.

Casts are held by Churchill College, Cambridge, the Imperial War Museum, the Iziko South African National Gallery, and the Centre Georges Pompidou.

A cast was donated to the White House in 1965, under the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, by a group of American wartime friends of Churchill, including W. Averell Harriman, and also Frederick L. Anderson, David K. E. Bruce, Ira C. Eaker and Carl Spaatz.

In a 2015 press conference, President Barack Obama confirmed that the cast was moved partially to make way for a new bust of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oval Office while reiterating his admiration to Churchill.

[2] It was temporarily moved back into the Oval Office in January 2017, after the inauguration of Donald Trump, until it was replaced by a cast from the British Government Art Collection (GAC).

Despite the fact that the bust was only intended to remain for the duration of Bush's presidency, its removal caused controversy among British and American conservatives, who interpreted it as an affront to the Special Relationship.