Anthony Caro invented Table Sculpture in response to a desire to make smaller pieces. As he works directly, not making preparatory pieces or maquettes, (as Henry Moore had done), he needed to find a new way of thinking about small sculpture. The table-top is a mundane article in everyone’s life, and he decided to use it for sculpture.

Measure and proportion can give the viewer different experiences of sculpture. However, as Caro prefers to work directly, the issue of scale is addressed from the moment he embarks on a new piece. This example of an early painted table sculpture is given its scale by the ploughshares incorporated into the composition. Not only has Caro used the table surface as a support for the sculpture, he has also incorporated it in the whole composition. The sculpture (number ninety-seven) sits precariously balanced on the surface of the table, rippling and draping itself over the edge. The coating of tan paint masks the raw quality of steel, as in Capital.