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Clodion callipygian girl 002
Terracotta figure by Claude Michel, called Clodion, portraying a nymph holding grapes aloft. With her right hand, the young woman gathers her shift in front of her, using it to contain a quantity of fruit, unselfconsciously revealing her naked lower body. Standing near a tree stump, she holds a bunch of grapes over her head with her left hand.
The sculpture is probably based on the famous Venus Callipyge, a Roman copy of a Greek original, now in the National Archeological Museum in Naples.

Signed: CLODION on the stump

Ex Collection:
By repute, Empress Eugénie (Tuileries)
Paul Gouvert: Paris Drouot 12/17/42.  Lot 72
Wildenstein et Cie.
William Rockhill Trust, Nelson Gallery, Kansas City

Literature:
 Connaissance des Arts : “Clodion” ; June 15, 1955. Page 74, illustrated.
Height (ins.): 17.5 (44.5 cm.)     
Origin: France     Period: Louis XVI