Large Lying Girl Reading is the stunning new addition to Jonathan Sanders’s popular collection of bronze sculptures of children, produced in collaboration with the historic Wedgwood Museum.
Capturing a carefree young girl enjoying her summer afternoon absorbed in a good book, this sculpture is hand cast by Nelson & Forbes in a British foundry, in an edition of just 250 castings worldwide.
Large Lying Girl Reading is beautifully presented in a high quality English handmade gift box, making a wonderful gift. She arrives accompanied by a numbered booklet of information, signed by the artist, Jonathan Sanders. The booklet is your guarantee that this is an original Nelson & Forbes bronze foundry casting of Jonathan Sanders's work that he has personally approved. This is NOT made of resin/cold cast bronze.
Jonathan Sanders was invited by The Wedgwood Museum to create a range of contemporary bronze sculpture, inspired by its collections. Since their launch in 2012, his collection of sculptures has proved to be consistently popular with collectors across the world, with many pieces being given as much treasured gifts for every conceivable occasion, from birthdays and anniversaries to graduations a leaving presents.
The Wedgwood Museum holds a unique record of the history of the Wedgwood company and of high quality English manufacturing. Its collections include a large range of manuscripts, correspondence, factory equipment, trials and original models as well as fine art by the likes of George Stubbs and Joshua Reynolds and, of course, ceramics. The basis of the collection can be traced back to the founder, Josiah Wedgwood I, who, conscious of the experimental nature of the work he was undertaking, kept his trials and experiments for posterity.
When Jonathan Sanders visited the museum, he says that he was ‘Utterly bowled over by the quality and beauty of so much of the collection, which represents the best in English design and production over the past 250 years’.
He was particularly entranced by the Domestic Employment series of Jasperware, depicting young children going about their day to day life, typically engaged in ‘domestic employment’. The depictions are a beautiful and some might say a slightly romantic view of how ordinary children experienced life in the 1780s, from the point of view of the aristocrat, Lady Elizabeth Templetown.
“I couldn’t help but compare those scenes with the lives of my own children”, he says, “and was inspired to sculpt a collection of pieces of them going about their every day life today.”
The resulting pieces are a depiction, by a contemporary artist, of the domestic life of today’s English child and Nelson & Forbes are proud to have the opportunity to produce them by hand in England, just as Wedgwood have done for many generations.
This bronze casting is a perfect recreation of Jonathan Sanders's original sculpture and each casting takes at least two weeks to create by hand. Each casting bears the artist's signature and its own unique edition number. As every piece is cast by hand, each one is an original and so will be very slightly different to the last.
‘The Wedgwood Museum’ is a trade mark belonging to the Wedgwood Museum Trust Limited.