Young Satyress Running with an Owl's Nest and Young Satyr Running with an Owl (pair of statuettes)

Description

These works by the French sculptor Claude Michel, called Clodion, show a pair of young satyrs. Clodion was fond of depicting characters from classical antiquity in his work, and the subject of child or baby satyrs in Bacchanalian celebrations appears often in the work of Rococo artists. The female satyr wraps a plump arm around a nest filled with baby birds, while her male counterpart holds an owl. Balancing on one foot, the two flee the scene of their theft.

Provenance

Private collection, France; Arnold Seligman and Rey and Co., Paris, France; French and Co., New York, New York, sold to Mrs. Francis F. Prentiss (-1929); Elisabeth Severance Prentiss [Mrs. Francis Fleury Prentiss] (1865–1944), Cleveland Heights, Ohio), upon her death, held in trust by the estate. (1929-1944); Estate of Elizabeth Severance Prentiss, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art (1944); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1944-)

Young Satyress Running with an Owl's Nest and Young Satyr Running with an Owl (pair of statuettes)

Clodion

1770s

Accession Number

1944.129

Medium

terracotta

Dimensions

Overall: 32.1 x 14.8 x 18.1 cm (12 5/8 x 5 13/16 x 7 1/8 in.); with base: 45.1 cm (17 3/4 in.)

Classification

Sculpture

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection