Getty Museum

Set of ceramic figures

Object Description · Getty Museum

The white-glazed figures depict two itinerant tradesmen leaning over their separate tasks. Dressed similarly in long vented coats and wide-brimmed hats, each stands on a narrow ovoid base before a blossoming tree trunk. One man sharpens a knife on a grinding stone that he turns by pumping a pedal with his right foot; the stone being mounted to a wheelbarrow supporting a bucket for the water needed to lubricate the stone, a ladle, and a hammer. The other man pushes a wheelbarrow supporting a barrel and a ewer necessary to distribute vinegar to customers. Realistic representations of humble workers were fashionable at the time strongly influenced by a contemporary series of prints, the Cris de Paris (Cries of Paris), illustrating street merchants. This knife grinder and vinegar vendor were adapted from compositions by Christophe Huet (1700-1759) based on the Cris de Paris images designed by François Boucher (1703-1770). They are the only known examples of these remarkably expressive models that vividly convey the penury and physical strain of the laborers. Ironically, they were luxury objects probably made as part of a larger group to serve as decoration on an elaborate dining table during the dessert course.

Getty Museum’s catalogue record

produced_by.carried_out_by[0].id: https://data.getty.edu/museum/collection/group/b0db4dad-d6ba-4ea4-ba4b-86f01dc2171a
Artist/Maker: Mennecy Porcelain Manufactory
subject_of[Homepage].id: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/109Q7Y
Date: about 1755
Medium: Soft-paste porcelain with glaze
Culture: French
Object Type: Decorative art

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Object ID: 3f169554-84a6-4978-bada-0287e5aae3fa
Object Type: Decorative art
Getty Museum field “Object Type” · copied as is
Creator: Mennecy Porcelain Manufactory
Getty Museum field “Artist/Maker” · copied as is
Culture: French
Getty Museum field “Culture” · copied as is
Medium: Soft-paste porcelain with glaze
Getty Museum field “Medium” · copied as is
Department: Decorative Arts
Getty Museum field “Department” · derived by LinkedCulture from the museum field · Getty's classification category is stored as department.
Credit Line: Gift of MaryLou Boone
Getty Museum field “Standard Credit Line” · the first available of several museum fields
Getty Museum field “Source Credit Line” · the first available of several museum fields
Date: about 1755
Getty Museum field “Date” · copied as is
Begin Year: 1755
Getty Museum field “produced_by.timespan.begin_of_the_begin” · derived by LinkedCulture from the museum field
End Year: 1755
Getty Museum field “produced_by.timespan.end_of_the_end” · derived by LinkedCulture from the museum field

The museum’s own record has not been captured for this object yet, so the museum fields shown above are limited to values LinkedCulture stored unchanged.

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