This drawing is thought to be the earliest example of Moore’s exploration of the relationship between internal and external forms in the human body. Although he did not fully develop this theme in sculpture for several more years, the rigid outer shell shielding one side of the body prefigures the line of works that, from the late 1930s, focussed on a human head protected by a helmet and, later, on figures enclosed in a shelter. However, this drawing can also be linked to contemporary sculptural work, in particular the half and three-quarter figures in stone and cast concrete which Moore made between 1925 and 1932.