Samuel Percy, ca. 1753–1819, Irish, A Race of Chimney-sweeps on Donkeys, undated
- Title:
- A Race of Chimney-sweeps on Donkeys
- Date:
- undated
- Materials & Techniques:
- Wax relief
- Dimensions:
- 20 7/8 x 31 1/2 inches (53 x 80 cm), Overall: 29 1/2 × 40 1/8 × 7 1/8 inches (74.9 × 101.9 × 18.1 cm)
- Credit Line:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
- Copyright Status:
- Public Domain
- Accession Number:
- B2011.2
- Classification:
- Sculptures
- Collection:
- Paintings and Sculpture
- Subject Terms:
- chimney sweeps | donkeys | genre subject | men | mountains | race | tableau (sculpture) | trees | woods
- Access:
- Not on view
- Link:
- https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:63623
- Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
Wax was a common modeling material around 1800, used for portraits and genre scenes, and Samuel Percy was one of the most celebrated exponents of wax sculpture. He was born and trained in Dublin but moved to London in 1774, where his multifigure scenes in colored wax appealed both to aristocratic patrons and to middle-class buyers. This ambitious scene of chimney sweeps was owned by the Earl of Shrewsbury, who collected over one hundred of Percy’s waxes. Percy has here emphasized the youthful high spirits of chimney sweeps rather than their poor hygiene, dangerous working conditions, and scant wages. Gallery label for A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)
Wax was a common modeling material around 1800, used for portraits and genre scenes, and Samuel Percy was one of the most celebrated exponents of wax sculpture. He was born and trained in Dublin but moved to London in 1774, where his multifigure scenes in colored wax appealed both to aristocratic patrons and to middle-class buyers. This ambitious scene of chimney sweeps was owned by the Earl of Shrewsbury, who collected over one hundred of Percy’s waxes. Percy has here emphasized the youthful high spirits of chimney sweeps rather than their poor hygiene, dangerous working conditions, and scant wages. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
" That Ingenious Artist, Mr Percy ", the wax tableaux of Samuel Percy , Sculpture Journal, vol. 21, 2012, pp. 108-09, 116-17, no. 34, fig.4, AvaiIable online (Orbis) Also available in hard copy at HAAS (NB1 S39) [ORBIS]
E. G. Elwyn, Samuel Percy's rustic scenes in wax, Connoisseur, vol. 93, no. 393, May 1934, pp. 320-24, N1 C75 + (YCBA) [YCBA]
Ingrid Roscoe, A biographical dictionary of sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2009, pp. 971 & 973, no. 42, NB496 B56 2009 (YCBA) (Wall Shelf 3) Yale electronic resource also available online: Orbis [YCBA]
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