Set of ceramic figures

Mennecy Porcelain Manufactory

about 1755

Soft-paste porcelain with glaze, Soft-paste porcelain

J. Paul Getty Museum

Two white porcelain figures depict men engaged in labor. The figure on the left is near a wheel and a cylindrical object, while the figure on the right pushes a wheelbarrow with a barrel. The white-glazed figures depict two itinerant tradesmen leaning over their separate tasks. Dressed similarly in long vented coats and wide-brimmed hats, each stands on a narrow ovoid base before a blossoming tree trunk. One man sharpens a knife on a grinding stone that he turns by pumping a pedal with his right foot; the stone being mounted to a wheelbarrow supporting a bucket for the water needed to lubricate the stone, a ladle, and a hammer. The other man pushes a wheelbarrow supporting a barrel and a ewer necessary to distribute vinegar to customers. Realistic representations of humble workers were fashionable at the time strongl