Packet, marked 'Sundry small [pieces] done in French chalk', from Watt's Workshop

Paper packet, marked "Sundry small [pieces] done in French chalk", containing:- 1 French chalk reproduction, broken and irregular 1 1/2"x 1 1/3", 1 French chalk mould, irregular shape 1 1/2" x 1 3/4", 1 Plaster cast, facing R. marked "Apl 11, 1807 Miss Brown's model, 4 1/8" dia

This item is part of the sculpture collection built by Scottish engineer James Watt, and which was kept for a long time in his garret workshop at his home, Heathfield, in Handsworth, Birmingham. The two most prominent objects in the workshop are a pair of sculpture copying machines dating to 1804-1809, one for producing reduced-sized and the other for equal-size copies. Building and using them was the main project that Watt undertook in the workshop. However, they built on his interest in sculpture which stretched back into the 1790s. Watt purchased items and then multiplied them in the workshop, making copies with his machines in different materials. The project was a fitting end to Watt’s career, continuing his interest in precision manufacture and multiplying images of himself, his associates and many other subjects in a way which combined art and industry, precision manufacture and often inspiration from antiquity.