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拍品专文
The information in the fragmentary manuscript label pasted to the back may have been transcribed to the typed label now pasted to the underside of the plinth. This label makes reference to the figure having been the sign of "Samuel Lighter: Gunsmith to the Duke of Arundel and Duke of Richmond." This gunsmith has not been traced, but the Duke of Norfolk at Arundel Castle was (as their descendants remain) a near neighbor of the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood Park, both in West Sussex.
The supreme quality of this trade sign indicated that it may have been executed by a member of the Harp Alley School of sign makers. The real flintlock mechanism in the gun suggests that this was a counter-top figure rather than a sign used out-of-doors.
The products of some naive carvers could, as here, be highly sophisticated, even though their work would not have been considered acceptable to those who subscribed to the conventions established by the academic sculptors of their day. Indeed, the status of wood carving as an art declined as the importance of marble sculpture rose to meet the demands of Neo-classicism. The proportions of this figure are similarly remote from classical precepts. In retrospect, while vernacular and academic art may be seen as distinct in their conventions, they nevertheless arrive at an equality of achievement.
The supreme quality of this trade sign indicated that it may have been executed by a member of the Harp Alley School of sign makers. The real flintlock mechanism in the gun suggests that this was a counter-top figure rather than a sign used out-of-doors.
The products of some naive carvers could, as here, be highly sophisticated, even though their work would not have been considered acceptable to those who subscribed to the conventions established by the academic sculptors of their day. Indeed, the status of wood carving as an art declined as the importance of marble sculpture rose to meet the demands of Neo-classicism. The proportions of this figure are similarly remote from classical precepts. In retrospect, while vernacular and academic art may be seen as distinct in their conventions, they nevertheless arrive at an equality of achievement.