The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 16, 2026

A vertically oriented graphite drawing depicts two figures with light skin tones. On our left, a man in a wide-brimmed hat and coat gestures firmly while clutching a hatchet. A youth stands opposite him, a hand raised to their forehead in a weary gesture. Sketched with light, delicate lines, they appear beside a circular grindstone. In the lower right, a discarded hat lies crumpled, while faint, loose lines suggest an architectural structure in the background.

Who'll Turn the Grindstone?

c. 1850

William Sidney Mount

(American, 1807–1868)
America
graphite
Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection 1946.1707
Location: Not on view
  • ?–1946
    Victor D. Spark [1898–1991], New York, NY, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    July 25, 1946–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland,OH
  • {{cite web|title=Who'll Turn the Grindstone?|url=false|author=William Sidney Mount|year=c. 1850|access-date=16 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1946.1707