Location

216B French and German

Description

French sculptor Claude Michel, called Clodion, frequently depicts children in his sculpture, in this case a convincing toddler, from her pout to her plump toes. The piece is constructed in terracotta, a common medium for Clodion. After firing, the unglazed color of the clay can vary widely; each of Clodion's statues has a slightly different hue. The figure has sustained a number of damages, but has recently been cleaned and repaired.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed: "Clodion"; signature incised on back in the terracotta

Provenance

Possibly Eugène Tondu (Paris, France) (sold, Paris, April 3, 1865, lot. no. 206)

-1902

Sir Thomas Gibson Carmichael, Bart., Castle Craig, Scotland, sold at Christie, Manson and Woods

May 12-13, 1902

(Sale: Christie, Manson and Woods, London, England, May 12-13, 1902, lot no. 257, to Durlacher Brothers)

1902-

(Durlacher Brothers, New York, NY)

J. Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913), New York, New York

-1944

Elisabeth Severance Prentiss [Mrs. Francis Fleury Prentiss] (1865–1944), Cleveland, OH, upon her death, held in trust by the estate

-1944

Estate of Elisabeth Severance Prentiss, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1944-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Catalogue of the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection : Bequest of Elisabeth Severance Prentiss, 1944. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944. Reproduced: p. [52], Plate XXII, cat. no. 38; Mentioned: p. 55, cat. no. 38 archive.org

Ditner, David Charles. Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century European Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum of Art. 1986. p. 219

Exhibition history

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, 1913-1916.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Child Carrying Fruit and Flowers

Clodion

Location

Description

Inscription