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 (banker) the favor of the Russian government, as is evidenced by his appointment as banker of the treasury commission of the Kingdom of Poland in 1838. Epstein was the founder and president of the Jewish hospital at Warsaw, on which he spent large sums and which he raised to a high standard of efficiency. Tsar Nicholas I, who visited the institution, conferred on Epstein the title of "hereditary honorary citizen." The high respect in which Epstein was held by the Christian population of Warsaw is best indicated by his election to membership in the commission of charities, which consisted mostly of