The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 21, 2023

British Manufactory; A Sketch

1791

Benjamin West

(American, 1738–1820)

America, 18th century

Oil on paper mounted on wood

Framed: 67.4 x 80 x 5.2 cm (26 9/16 x 31 1/2 x 2 1/16 in.); Unframed: 51 x 65 cm (20 1/16 x 25 9/16 in.)

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1919.1018

Location

203B British Painting and Decorative Arts

Fun Fact

Benjamin West was the first American artist to attain international fame.

Description

As part of his work for the British court, Benjamin West produced several compositions celebrating the strength of the nation's economy. In this example, women in classical costumes paint vases, spin, and weave—a comparison of British manufacturing with the accomplishments of antiquity. One of a series of nine related sketches, this design was copied as a large mural decorating the Queen's Lodge at Windsor Castle, a room eliminated by remodeling in 1823.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed lower center: B. West 1791

Provenance
Raphael L. West [1769-1850] and Benjamin West, Jr. [1772-1849], the artist's sons, by descent
1829
(London sale, 1829)
1878
Mrs. S.J. Tuttle, Boston, MA, 1878
1919
(William Macbeth Gallery, New York, NY, 1919, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1919-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Brayley, E. W, and J Britton. The Beauties of England and Wales : Or, Original Delineations, Topographical, Historical, and Descriptive of Each Country. London, United Kingdom: Vernor, 1801. Reproduced: p. 260 vol. 1
Graves, Algernon. The Royal Academy of Arts; A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and Their Work from Its Foundation in 1769 to 1904. London, United Kingdom: H. Graves and Co, 1905. Reproduced: p. 215, no. 167
Annmary Brown Memorial, Rush C. Hawkins, and C. H. Collins Baker. Paintings in Oil & Water Colours by Early & Modern Painters. London, United Kingdom: Printed for the owner by the Medici Society, 1913. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 52-53
"Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 6, no. 7/8 (1919): 132-34. Mentioned: p. 132 www.jstor.org
Barker, Virgil. American Painting, History and Interpretation. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1950. Mentioned: p. 199-211
Galt, John. The Life of Benjamin West (1816-1820). Gainesville, FL: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1960. Mentioned: p. 214, 218
Croft-Murray, Edward. Decorative Painting in England, 1537-1837. London, United Kingdom: Country Life, 1962. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 290-292
Allentown Art Museum. The World of Benjamin West: Being the Account, Ornamented by Reproductions, of the Art of a Native Pennsylvanian, from His Early Attempts at Face-Painting and the Painting of History to His Final Eminent Station As President of the Royal Academy, & Followed by Notable Examples from the Most Eminent Painters of the British Realm and of the Continent and Those of the Most Assiduous Students of Mr. West's Instruction ... : to Be Freely Admired by the Lovers of Both Art and History, between May 1st and July 31st of This Bi-Centennial Year in Allentown. Allentown, PA: Printed for the Allentown Art Museum, 1962.
Hawley, Henry H. Neo-Classicism: Style and Motif. Cleveland,
OH: Cleveland Museum of Art; distributed by H.N. Abrams, New York, 1964.
Skidmore College. American Allegorical Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Saratoga Springs, NY.: Hathorn Gallery, Skidmore College, 1968.
Council of Europe, Royal Academy of Arts (Great Britain), Victoria and Albert Museum, and Arts Council of Great Britain. The Age of Neo-Classicism: [Catalogue of] The Fourteenth Exhibition of the Council of Europe [Held at] the Royal Academy and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 9 September - 19 November, 1972. London, United Kingdom: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1972.
Irwin, David G. Neoclassicism. London, United Kingdom: Phaidon, 1997. Mentioned: p. 172-175; Reproduced: p.173
Maryland Historical Society, and John B. Boles. Maryland Heritage: Five Baltimore Institutions Celebrate the American Bicentennial. Baltimore, MD: The Society, 1976.
Gage, John, and Michael Kitson. Zwei Jahrhunderte englische Malerei: britische Kunst und Europa 1680 bis 1880. München, Germany: Haus der Kunst, 1979.
Forty, Adrian. Objects of Desire. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 1986. Mentioned: p. 13-17; Reproduced: p. 15
Erffa, Helmut von, and Allen Staley. The Paintings of Benjamin West. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986. Mentioned: p. 90, 93, 409-411; Reproduced: p.411
Boime, Albert. Art in an Age of Revolution, 1750-1800. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1987. Mentioned: p. 370-382; Reproduced: p. 372
Reilly, Robin. Wedgwood. New York, NY: Stockton Press, 1989. Mentioned: p. 663-684; Reproduced: p. 372
Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. Reproduced: p. 259
Rouet, Philippe. Approaches to the study of Attic vases: Beazley and Pottier. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2001. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 21-24
Fox, Celina. The Arts of Industry in the Age of Enlightenment. New Haven CT: Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2009. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 353-354
Exhibition history

Charitable Mechanics Association, Fine Arts Department, Boston, MA (1878).

The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).

The World of Benjamin West. Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA (organizer) (May 1-July 31, 1962).

The Age of Neoclassicism. Arts Council of Great Britain (organizer) (September 7-November 19, 1972).

Zwei Jahrhunderk Englische Malerei (British Painting and the European Continent). Haus der Kunst, Munich, Munich, Germany (organizer) (November 20, 1979-January 27, 1980).

British Gallery Reinstallation (June 2020). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1919.1018