This highly stylized carving dates from the period immediately following Epstein's extended stay in Paris (1912-1913), where he met Picasso, Modigliani and Brancusi. Epstein's interest in expression of primal states of humankind - the sexual, natural, and intuitive impulses - also emerged about the same time. These two skeins of influence intertwine in Female Figure. Through an abstracted representation of pregnancy and birth - which uses the quality of the stone as a metaphor for the drum-tight torso of a pregnant woman - Epstein achieved a powerful image of strength and fecundity. Although much of Epstein's work was reviled during his lifetime by British critics, his influence on the next generation of sculptors, notably Henry Moore, was significant.