Sleeping Faun
The faun, deity of the fields and herds, is often represented as half-goat and half-man or as a human with pointed ears, small horns, and a goat's tail. In Potter's interpretation, only the faun's ears and a pair of reed pipes indicate that the figure is not simply a pudgy young nude slumbering on a forest floor. As the boy dozes, an inquisitive rabbit nibbles on the leafy garland encircling his disheveled hair. Potter seldom ventured into such fanciful themes; he was highly skilled as a sculptor of animals and is best-known for the pair of lions that flank the Fifth Avenue entrance to the New York Public Library.
Artwork Details
- Title: Sleeping Faun
- Artist: Edward Clark Potter (1857–1923)
- Founder: Cast by Gorham Manufacturing Company (American, Providence, Rhode Island, 1831–present)
- Date: 1887–89, cast 1919
- Culture: American
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: 11 x 38 1/4 x 17 1/2 in. (27.9 x 97.2 x 44.5 cm)
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1919
- Object Number: 19.127
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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