Sleep

ca. 1835 · Group

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Sleep” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.

Victoria and Albert Museum

London, United Kingdom

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 15 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the sculpture

This group formerly known as 'Mother and Child' is made by Richard Cockle Lucas in England in ca. 1835. It is now realized that this marble sculpture group of a mother and child is in fact called Sleep, as an old annotated photograph in an album recently acquired by the Museum testifies (inv.no. E.646:29-1998). Carved in the 1830s, it foreshadows the strong sentimental strain in British sculpture that would develop in the 19th century, during the long reign of Queen Victoria.

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Lucas began his career as a sculptor as an apprentice to his uncle, who worked as a cutler in Winchester, carving knife handles. He joined the Royal Academy Schools in 1828 and studied under Richard Westmacott. Lucas made two models of the Parthenon, in its original state and after the explosion of 1687, which were aquired by the British Museum. He is best known for his small scale works including wax sculptures and ivory carvings. Lucas was at the centre of a controversy about the bust of Flora in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin. The bust was thought to be an authentic work by Leonard da Vinci but the sculptor's son Albert Dürer Lucas claimed in the Burlington Magazine that the bust was modelled by his father. It is now generally thought that the bust is probably by Leonardo or his circle but was repaired by Lucas. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1829 and 1859 and showed ivory carvings and imitation bronzes at the Great Exhibition in 1851.

Victoria and Albert Museum