The Young Blacksmith

Original Language TitleDer kleine Schmid

Modeler Johann Peter Melchior (German, 1742 - 1825)

Manufacturer Höchst Ceramics Manufactory (German, founded 1746)

Date1770-1780

MediumHard-paste porcelain; enamelled

DimensionsOverall: 4 1/4 inches (10.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. E. B. Berkowitz

Object number70-18/6

Markingson bottom: blue wheel mark

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts

Terms

DescriptionYoung boy in pink knee pants, white blouse with billowy sleeves, red with white stripes scarf at neck, green hat and work apron. Pounding out rod (black with red tip) held in left hand with hammer in right hand held in mid-air on anvil (black base with white top). Crack on right shoulder running to left around neck. On shaped gray base. Modeled by Johann Peter Melchior (act. 1767-1779).Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Luxury and Passion: Inventing French Porcelain, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, August 13 2022–August 12 2024, no cat.

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

K.H. Esser and Horst Reber, Höchster Fayencen und Porzellane, exh. cat. (Mainz, Germany: Altertumsmuseum und Gemäldegalerie der Stadt Mainz, 1964): p. 131 (ill.)

Patricia Stahl. Höchster Porzellan, 1746-1796, exh. cat. (Frankfurt am Main: Historisches Museum der Stadt Frankfurt am Main/Edition Braus, 1994): no.6.10.13 (with companion piece), p. 270 (ill.)

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