Dylan Thomas Birthplace / Family Home 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea, Wales, UK

Sculptor Peter Nicholas with the head of Dylan which will form part of a new sculpture in the Uplands by 2014

The announcement today of the death at 95 of David Slivka who sculpted Dylan’s death mask brings to an end another link with the writer.

Both were born on 27th October 1914 and celebrated their 39th birthdays just days before Dylan died in a New York hospital on 9th November 1953.

Four years after Dylan’s death he made five bronze busts. Two are now in America, one in the National Museum of Wales, one in the BBC Headquarters and the fifth in the Dylan Thomas Centre.

The sculpture is the basis for a resin mould of the distinctly overweight Dylan which used to be on sale at the Centre.

While the passing is another end of a Dylan connection it comes at a time when a new sculpture of the young Dylan took a step closer to realisation. Earlier this month we visited Peter Nicholas in Port Eynon to check progress on te new work.

Peter, who recently completed sculptures of Aneurin Bevan and music great Ivor Novello is working with us on the project to have it in place somewhere in the Uplands by the 100th anniversary of Dylan’s birth in 2014.