Girl with lambs 1755 - 1770

Curator: Just look at the glaze on this petite sculpture! The Metropolitan Museum holds this whimsical piece called "Girl with Lambs," likely created by the Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory sometime between 1755 and 1770. Editor: My first thought? Absolute pastoral sweetness. It's almost cloying but there’s something disarming about it. It feels like a porcelain dream. Curator: Precisely! The Rococo style practically oozes out of every carefully molded detail. That gentle color palette is a signature. Editor: The lamb, of course, has huge significance. Historically a symbol of innocence, sacrifice, or even Christ, here it feels like it adds to this overall feeling of gentle tranquility. A softened power dynamic perhaps, that this girl and the lamb are bonded, and connected by the earth. Curator: I find it so curious, these miniature figures meant for display. Were they simple decorations, or did they hold more meaning? Think of them perched on mantels in grand homes… Were they ever even touched? I wonder. Editor: Well, objects like this solidify narratives of wealth, luxury and perhaps even supposed virtue. Genre scenes romanticize labour, transforming hard toil into a picturesque aesthetic. They carry an emotional resonance too, suggesting the purity of rural life in the face of ever growing urbanization. Curator: You've pinpointed what strikes me. The artifice of it all! And the fragility of porcelain – is that the perfect medium for portraying delicate virtue? Editor: I think it certainly does amplify those ideals. Ultimately, an object like this invites us to reflect on beauty, power, and the narratives we project onto even the smallest things. Curator: A beautiful consideration and honestly, I think I've developed an entirely new appreciation for the art of miniature sculpture.