Mortimer Brown

Shepherd Boy

1911

Not on display

Artist: Mortimer Brown 1874–1966
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: Object: 1580 × 530 × 536 mm, 150 kg
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1912
Reference: N02896

Display caption

Brown was a pupil of Sir Hamo Thornycroft. The realistic depiction of the figure and the subject of agricultural labour was possibly influenced by Thornycroft's The Mower (shown in room 16)

The boy holds a long staff with which to guide the sheep, and yet is clearly distracted from his duties. His youthfulness is evident from his tiny frame and awkward pose. The sculpture was made at a time when there were concerns in the countryside about the decline of the agricultural labour force, as workers left the fields and sought prosperity in the cities.

Gallery label, August 2004

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Catalogue entry

N02896 SHEPHERD BOY 1911

Inscr. ‘Mortimer Brown R.B.S. 1911’ on base.
Bronze, 62 1/4×21 1/2×21 (158×55×53).
Chantrey Purchase from the artist 1912.
Exh: R.A., 1912 (1978).

[no further details]

Published in:
Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, London 1964, I