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Marble. Signed lower right on plinth: “F. Uprka”. In his sculptures Franta Uprka, like his brother, Joža, portrayed motifs from his native Moravian Slovakia. A trained stonemason, he worked in the studios of Antonín Pavel Wagner and Bohuslav Schnirch. In 1896 he settled in Prague and married Otilie Chramostová. In 1906 he exhibited his work at the Milan International. In 1910 he exhibited in Venice, again in Milan, and in Turin and Rome. Another international show followed at the Doré Gallery in London in 1911, where an exhibition of Slavic art was held. In 1918 Franta Uprka made the debut for the reopening for the Topič Salon, which had been closed following a forced seven-year hiatus, with a joint exhibition with Alois Kalvoda. In 1920 he represented Czech sculpture at the Paris Salon with his well-known sculpture, “Pilgrims”.