Accession Number
2012/2.178

Title
Seated Boy with Pail

Artist(s)

Object Creation Date
circa 1815-1850

Medium & Support
graphite on wove paper

Dimensions
10 7/16 in x 7 11/16 in (26.51 cm x 19.53 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink

Label copy
Attributed to Michel Martin Drolling
France, 1789–1851
Seated Boy with Pot
First half of 19th century
Graphite on wove paper
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink, 2012/2.178

Subject matter
Attributed to the early-nineteenth century neoclassical painter Michel-Martin Drolling, this pencil sketch depicts a boy seated on a stone ledge with his feet propped up on a rock. The boy holds a pail or basket in his lap, which he tilts towards the viewer to indicate its contents are empty. With his casual dress and rolled up sleeves, this image may represent a worker with his lunch pail, and judging from his unhappy expression he seems not to have enjoyed as much refreshment as he hoped. As Albert Boime has shown, sketching was an important part of Drolling's atelier, with internal competitions held between the students every Saturday. Many of the artists that trained with Drolling went on to become significant painters in their own right.

Physical Description
A pencil drawing of a seated boy holding a pail.

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Primary Object Type
portrait

Collection Area
Western

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
boys
drawings (visual works)
pails
pots (containers)
sketches
workers