Sweep boy
Medium
Lead-glazed earthenware
Dimensions
Height: 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
British, Burslem, Staffordshire
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of R. Thornton Wilson, 1942
Accession Number
42.52.11
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created around 1770–80 in the Staffordshire potteries of Burslem, England, *Sweep Boy* exemplifies the lively tradition of English lead-glazed earthenware figures. Standing just over seven inches tall, the small sculpture was likely intended for display on a domestic mantelpiece or shelf, where its bright, translucent glaze would catch the light. The work is associated with Ralph Wood the Younger, whose family workshop specialized in such molded pottery, along with contributions from modeler John Voyez and the French sculptor Paul-Louis Cyfflé, reflecting the collaborative and often fluid attr...
About the Artist
Ralph Wood the Younger|Paul-Louis Cyfflé|John Voyez · 1748–1795
Ralph Wood the Younger was born in Burslem, Staffordshire, in 1748, the son of the celebrated potter Ralph Wood the Elder and a member of a family that stood at the center of the Staffordshire ceramics industry during its most creative and internationally influential period. Growing up in the workshops of his father, he absorbed from childhood the technical traditions of English earthenware produc...