# Young Woman and Child at Play

- By: Clodion (French, 1738–1814)
- Date: 1780s
- Medium: terracotta
- Classification: Sculpture
- Dimensions: Overall: 30.8 x 29.1 x 22.4 cm (12 1/8 x 11 7/16 x 8 13/16 in.)
- Culture: France
- Credit line: Bequest of John L. Severance
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.783)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1942.783/1942.783_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The French sculptor Claude Michel, called Clodion (1738–1814), constructed much of his work in terracotta. After firing, the unglazed color of the clay can vary widely, so each of Clodion's works in this medium has a slightly different hue, in this case a smooth reddish gray. Clodion depicts a mother nursing her newborn with painstaking attention to detail, from the tendrils of hair that cascade gracefully down to the mother's shoulders to the brilliant bouquet at the pair's feet.