Joseph Gott

Joseph Gott, p. 53, no. G115

Overall in very good condition. No repairs but overall with natural traces of veining in some places original to stone color. Traces of dirt and minor chips around base.
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Joseph Gott was a contemporary of John Gibson and Richard James Wyatt.  Together they formed the nucleus of the vibrant school of British sculptors working in Rome in the generation after Canova and Thorvaldsen.  Unlike his fellow artists, however, Gott had an unconventional, almost light-hearted, approach to his subject matter.  He avoided high moral or obscure mythological themes and never developed a liking for sweet nymphs.  Gott's oeuvre clearly responded to a more open-minded patron who wanted sculptures that reflected more directly human, every day themes; most prolifically animals and children. 

The present delicately carved marble of Little Red Riding Hood epitomises Gott's unpretentious nature. The tale of Little Red Riding Hood seems to have originated as an oral tale in Northern Italy, the Tyrol and Pyrenees, although the elements of its basic plot are found in tales from Japan, China and Korea.  The earliest printed version is probably Charles Perrault's Le Petit Chaperon Rouge in Contes de ma mère l'Oye ou Histoires ou du temps passé avec moralités of 1697, in which both Red Riding Hood and her grandmother are eaten by the wolf.  Later, nineteenth century, versions such as the Grimm brother's Rotkäppchen (1812) or William Weeks' version of 1834 adopt the more common happy ending and it was no doubt one of these sources that inspired Gott, although, his depiction of the girl's costume is clearly tinged with an innocent sensuality.  The sculptor wrote to William Gott in 1832, 'I am thinking of sending 2 small statues to Leeds for the exhbition...one is...Red Riding Hood they were begun before I was in England last time [1827] & have been in progress since that time your father saw a terra Cotta Model of the red Riding hood at Lord F. Gower's & was much pleased with it.'