A Boy with a Bird's Nest

Original Language TitleKnabe mit Vogelnest

Modeler Johann Peter Melchior (German, 1742 - 1825)

Artist After Gottlieb Leberecht Crusius (German, 1730 - 1804)

Manufacturer Höchst Ceramics Manufactory (German, founded 1746)

Date1760-1765

MediumHard-paste porcelain; enamelled and gilded

DimensionsOverall: 7 1/8 inches (18.1 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. E. B. Berkowitz

Object number70-18/10

Markingsblue wheel mark with cross

On View

Not on view

Collections

Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts

Terms

DescriptionYoung boy in grey coat with red, white and grey striped pants and vest with light yellow scarf at neck. Holding in left hand a black hat containing a nest of baby bird. Looking at birds with right index finger pointing at them. Standing next to tree stump on shaped green base. Modeled by Johann Peter Melchior (act. 1767-1779).Provenance

Provenance

Caroline Newman Newburger Berkowitz (1899–1997), Kansas City, MO, by June 25, 1970 [1];

Her gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1970 [2].

NOTES:

[1] Caroline Berkowitz married Eugene Bertram Berkowitz (1889-1966) in 1922, the year after graduating from Smith College, establishing a likely beginning date for the beginning of her collecting interests. Laura R. Hockaday, “Berkowitz matriarch believes in putting family first,” Kansas City Star (January 12, 1992): H4.

[2] Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Curatorial Files.

Published References

Kurt Röder and Michel Oppenheim. Das Höchster Porzellan auf der Jahrtausend-Ausstellung in Mainz 1925, exh. cat. (Mainz, Germany: L. Wilckens, 1930): nos. 241–242, p. 52, plates 45b–45c (ill.)

K.H. Esser and Horst Reber, Höchster Fayencen und Porzellane, exh. cat. (Mainz, Germany: Altertumsmuseum und Gemäldegalerie der Stadt Mainz, 1964): no. 182, p. 116 (ill.); p. 236.

Patricia Stahl. Höchster Porzellan, 1746-1796, exh. cat. (Frankfurt am Main: Historisches Museum der Stadt Frankfurt am Main/Edition Braus, 1994): no.. 6.3.7., p. 208 (ill.)

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