She Who Must Be Obeyed

In March 1974 the General Services Administration commissioned Tony Smith to make a sculpture for the Department of Labor building in Washington, D.C. A few months later the artist was ready to present this maquette to the GSA Design Review Panel for final approval. Smith was concerned with getting the model safely from his studio in New Jersey to Washington, and carefully wrapped it and carried it like "a newborn child" (Thalacker, The Place of Art in the World of Architecture, 1980). The maquette had its own seat on the plane and arrived safely at National Airport. Smith hailed a taxi, and the driver, insisting that the model would be safer in the trunk than on the seat, slammed the trunk lid on one of its edges. Despite the damage to the model, the GSA panelists unanimously approved his design. Smith often titled his pieces after literary works, and this maquette was named after the central character in H. Rider Haggard's 1887 novel She. The completed sculpture was installed in 1976 and measures 30 by 24 by 8 feet.