British Manufactory; A Sketch
1791
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1791
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see women in flowing robes painting vases, spinning thread, and weaving cloth inside a bright workshop. West painted this as a practice sketch for a royal mural. He compared British factories to ancient Greece and Rome—showing machines as noble as marble temples. The mural was later torn down, so this small drawing is all that’s left. Look up more sketches in the same series at The Cleveland Museum of Art.
