Statuette

This terracotta statuette representing a leather beater was made by the Netherlandish sculptor Pieter Xavery. Books of engravings of everyday occupations were popular in Holland in the second half of the 17th century, and the source for this composition was probably one of these prints.

Pieter Xavery (b. ca. 1647, active 1667-74) was born in Antwerp and enrolled in Leiden University as a student in 1670 and signed sculptures there in the following four years. It is possible that he went to Leiden as an assistant of Rombout Verhulst. Xavery worked principally in terracotta and specialised in genre figures with strong elements of caricature. His relationship with Jean Baptiste Xavery (1697-1742), a more well-knoen sculptor of the next generation is unknown.