66

ABASTENIA ST. LEGER EBERLE
American (1878-1942)
Old Charwoman
A Mother and Child
(A Pair)

(a) plaster, inscribed and dated "A.St.L. Eberle 1919"
(b) clay maquette
height: (a) 14 inches (b) 4 inches

Provenance: Estate of the artist; Private Collection, Westport, Connecticut; Private Collection, Virginia.

Other Notes:
tags: sculpture, maquette, Ashcan, New York City, realism, female artist, woman artist

The Old Charwoman (1919) explores the grittier world of women in the immigrant and working classes, and like her Ragpicker (1911) relates to the 'newspaper-reporter' style of the Ash Can school. Charlotte Rubinstein describes The Old Charwoman as "a warm portrayal of an Irish immigrant woman with dustpan and broom, who cleaned business buildings."[1] This observation hints at the greater metaphor at work relevant to the Progressive Era that Eberle was working in. This hardworking yet dignified woman stood for the correlation of women and women's suffrage with the perceived need of 'municipal housekeeping,' a key tenet of progressive politics. Rightly or wrongly, it was thought that women were uniquely qualified to clean up some of the most apparent societal problems like political corruption, inefficiency and waste, public health, etc. Eberle's The Old Charwoman seems ready and waiting to do the job and harks back to the theme of sweeping Eberle first introduced with Windy Doorstep. Another plaster for The Old Charwoman resides in the Kendall Young Library in Webster City, Iowa.


[1] Rubinstein, Charlotte Streifer. American Women Sculptors. G.K. Hall, 1990. p.217 https://archive.org/details/americanwomenscu0000rubi


  • Condition: Comments:
    (a) good to fair condition, overall form intact, scattered losses, additional photos upon request



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