HISTORIC Blackburn sweet maker Stockleys has its products on display at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds.

The company received an unusual order for a tonne of silver foil-wrapped sweets that has been used to recreate a sculpture by Cuban-American artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres.

The artist is famed for his ‘removable’ installations, by which the process is a key feature.

Many of his installations invite the viewer to take a piece of the work with them, contributing to the slow disappearance of the sculpture.

Visitors to the exhibition can help themselves to a tasty treat in the form of a sweet and the Institute will return the sculpture to its original form of a gleaming field of silver-wrapped sweets at the start of each day.

Stockleys Sweets owner Andy Needham said: “We’ve always known our sweets are legendary but we never imagined they would form part of an exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute.

“We hope that all the visitors to the exhibition will take advantage of the edible sculpture and get to enjoy our products.”

The sculpture will be on display until October 20 as part of the Indifferent Matter: From Object to Sculpture’ exhibition, that also features work from Robert Smithson and Andy Warhol.

Rebecca Land, communications manager for the Henry Moore Institute, said: “The Institute is part of the Henry Moore Foundation which the artist set up to enhance the public's enjoyment of sculpture.

“The installation by Gonzalez-Torres really pushes the boundaries and we hope it will challenge visitors' perceptions as well as offering them a sweet treat."

Stockleys was founded by Malcolm Stockley in 1918 when he returned to his native Accrington at the end of the First World War.

The business now occupies a 20,000 square foot manufacturing and packing unit just outside Blackburn.

It exports its famous sweets around the world and sells more than 60 varieties of sweets, including sugar free types.