British Manufactory; A Sketch (1791): Art, History and Details

British Manufactory; A Sketch (1791) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Benjamin West (American, born The Thirteen Colonies, 1738–1820).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: British Manufactory; A Sketch
• Date: 1791
• Creator attribution: Benjamin West (American, born The Thirteen Colonies, 1738–1820)
• Culture: America
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on paper mounted on wood
• Dimensions: 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.)
• Collection: American - Painting
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1919.1018

A detail from the museum

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

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust

Further reading listed by the museum

• Gottlieb, Rachel, The Portland Vase:Mania and Muse, exh. cat. (Sacramento, CA: Croker Art Museum, 2024).
• 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.
• 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.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.