Rock Drill (Jacob Epstein) with its straining to one purpose, is a vivid illustration of the greatest function of life.' In 1940, however, recalling the horrors of the 1914–18 war in the context of the Second World War, Epstein reinterpreted the sculpture much more negatively: Study for Rock Drill (c. 1913) is a × charcoal drawing by Epstein which is part of The Garman Ryan Collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall. Whilst the exact date of the sketch is unknown, because it is a preparatory study for Epstein's full sculpture "Rock Drill", it has been dated to 1913. Epstein dismantled the original sculpture:
Jacob Epstein the smaller of the two figures represented on "Day". But the controversy affected his commissions for public work which dried up until World War II. Between the late 1930s and the mid-1950s, numerous works by Epstein were exhibited in Blackpool. "Adam", "Consummatum Est", "Jacob and the Angel and Genesis", and other works, were initially displayed in an old drapery shop surrounded by red velvet curtains. The crowds were ushered in at the cost of a shilling by a barker on the street. After a small tour of American fun fairs, the works were returned to Blackpool and were exhibited in