A Staffordshire salt-glazed figure of the Spinario mid 18th century

A Staffordshire salt-glazed figure of the Spinario mid 18th century, the naked youth pulling a thorn from his left foot which is crossed over his right knee, raised on a low base, a little good restoration to his right elbow, 9.5cm high.

The Spinario, also known as the Boy with a Thorn, derives from a Greco-Roman bronze from the 1st century AD and was widely copied from the 16th century onwards in many forms including marble and bronze. For a time the sculpture was known as Il Fedele (The Faithful Boy) owing to a spurious story about a shepherd boy who delivered a message to the Roman Senate and only afterwards stopped to remove a thorn from his foot.