The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Young Woman and Child at Play

Young Woman and Child at Play

1780s

follower of Clodion

(French, 1738–1814)
France, 18th century
terracotta
Overall: 30.8 x 29.1 x 22.4 cm (12 1/8 x 11 7/16 x 8 13/16 in.)
Bequest of John L. Severance 1942.783
Location: 216B French and German

Description

The French sculptor Claude Michel, called Clodion (1738–1814), constructed much of his work in terracotta. After firing, the unglazed color of the clay can vary widely, so each of Clodion's works in this medium has a slightly different hue, in this case a smooth reddish gray. Clodion depicts a mother nursing her newborn with painstaking attention to detail, from the tendrils of hair that cascade gracefully down to the mother's shoulders to the brilliant bouquet at the pair's feet.
  • Paul Meurice (1818-1905), Paris, France, upon his death, held in trust by the estate
    1905-1906
    Estate of Paul Meurice, Paris, France
    May 25, 1906
    (Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, France, May 25, 1906, lot 30)
    Alphonse de Jonge, Paris, France
    French and Co., New York, New York, sold to John L. Severance.
    John L. Severance (1863-1936), upon his death, held in trust by the estate.
    -1942
    Estate of John L. Severance, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1942-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue of the John L. Severance Collection: Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942. Reproduced: p. [30], Plate XIV, cat. no. 27; Mention: p. 32, cat. no. 27 archive.org
    Milliken, William M. “Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 29, no. 9 (1942). pp. 140, 151 www.jstor.org
    Ditner, David Charles. Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century European Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum of Art. 1986. pp. 204-07, fig. 26a
  • Rococo, Revolution, Restoration. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-September 24, 1989).
    Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
    Exhibition of the John L. Severance Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 12, 1942-March 14, 1943).
  • {{cite web|title=Young Woman and Child at Play|url=false|author=Clodion|year=1780s|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.783