The See-Saw

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The See-Saw

Artist Claude Michel, called Clodion (French, 1738-1814)

Place of OriginFrance

Dateabout 1775

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 16 3/4 × 18 × 2 3/4 in. (42.5 × 45.7 × 7 cm)

Mediumterracotta

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1957.16

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 27

Label TextThe lively tabletop terracotta sculptures of Claude Michel, known as Clodion, combined the 18th-century Neoclassical interest in Greek and Roman antiquity and mythological subjects with the Rococo taste for playful romantic themes. In this sculpture, a lusty satyr lofts a nymph into the air on a makeshift see-saw, while little cherubs, or putti, attempt to tip the balance. Eighteenth-century French audiences would have understood this seemingly innocent child’s pastime as a metaphor for sexual abandon. The sensuality of the subject is underscored by Clodion’s rapid execution, with the marks of his modeling tools and of his fingers still evident in the clay. The “unfinished” aesthetic of his terracotta sculptures, with their use of the natural color of the clay and their emphasis on texture, added to their intimate appeal for the French aristocracy.Published ReferencesTourneux, Maurice, "Les Arts à l'Exposition de 1900: La Sculpture/Moderne," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 25, 1901, p. 40, repr. opp. p. 40.

"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," April-June 1957, Art Quarterly, vol. XX, no. 3, Autumn 1957, p. 323, repr. p. 322.

Toledo Museum News, New Series, vol. 3, no. 4, Autumn 1960 (also published as French Art 1600-1800), p. 90, repr.

Watson, F.J.B., "Eighteenth-Century Painting and Decorative Arts," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, Dec. 1967, p. 465, repr. fig. 14, p. 460.

Poulet, Anne L., and Guilhem Scherf, Clodion 1738-1814, Paris, 1992, p. 13, 459.

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2005, p. 27, repr. (col.).

Slitine, Florence, Samson, genie de l'imitation, Paris, Massin, 2002, p. 48, repr. (col.).

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 204, repr. (col.).

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2009, p. 27, repr. (col.)

Les Adam La sculpture en heritage, Snoeck Publishers, Gent, September 23, 20021, repr. (col. fig. 152 p. 264.

Exhibition HistoryParis, Petit Palais, Exhibition Universelle de 1900, Catalogue Official illustré de l'Exposition Rétrospective de l'Art Francais des Origines à 1900, p. 311, no. 4720. (L'Escarpolette, terre cuite, par Clodion. Mme. la Baronne James de Rothschild.)