In 1892 Woolner was working on " The Housemaid," a life-sized figure of a servant girl wringing out the cloth with which she washes the doorstep (a sight which may be seen any morning early in the London streets) ; it was a subject which the Sculptor had long wished to do having noticed the graceful action he used to say the servant girls in their plain print frocks and caps were the best dressed women in London on week-days, and the worst dressed on Sundays ! He finished the clay model, and it had been cast and cleaned up by him a few weeks before his last illness. After his death the model was cast in bronze in time for the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1893, but it was placed in a poor position and could not be seen on all sides, so that Woolner's last work has really not been properly seen by the British public : the central place of honour that year was given to a mass of ferns and flowers.

This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.