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Lot Essay
Claudius de Cock was a Flemish sculptor, painter, printmaker and poet who ran a large workshop with assistants who helped him produce sacred and profane sculptures both small and monumental in scale.
Apparently this drawing was part of a series executed in 1706. Another drawing with an Allegory of Sculpture, bearing the same date and numbered ‘4’, is in New York in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 2010.533). Another version of the present composition, executed in chalk and signed, but not dated, was on the London art market (sold at Christie’s, London, 6 December, 1988, lot 170A, and later with Crispian Riley-Smith, London 2014). While the drawing in the Metropolitan Museum is clearly an allegorical representation of the art of sculpture, the present sheet is a lively representation of a young sculptresses actively carving a life-size marble piece. Representation of female artists at work are very rare.
Apparently this drawing was part of a series executed in 1706. Another drawing with an Allegory of Sculpture, bearing the same date and numbered ‘4’, is in New York in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 2010.533). Another version of the present composition, executed in chalk and signed, but not dated, was on the London art market (sold at Christie’s, London, 6 December, 1988, lot 170A, and later with Crispian Riley-Smith, London 2014). While the drawing in the Metropolitan Museum is clearly an allegorical representation of the art of sculpture, the present sheet is a lively representation of a young sculptresses actively carving a life-size marble piece. Representation of female artists at work are very rare.