Not currently on display at the V&A

Print

ca.1700 (Printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This hand-coloured woodcut by Albert Schmidt, a German publisher of popular prints and playing cards, was printed in about 1700 in Augsburg, Germany, and coloured later by hand with watercolour. It represents a lstore room and a cellar of a grand house, with three large barrels in the cellar, and was made as a scene for the biblical story of The Legend of the Prodigal Son. It is` one of a series of six relating to this story. Sheets like this relating to various biblical stories were probably the basis for an early form of German Toy Theatre.

The series also includes a sheet of characters, with four boars and a trough. From the way the characters are portrayed and set out on the sheet it appears that it was meant to be cut up and used in performance in conjunction with a text. It is unlikely that the images were meant for one static three-dimensional image like a 'Nativity', but rather for performance.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Handcoloured woodcut on paper
Brief description
Hand-coloured sheet of the housekeeping room and the wine cellar below with the steps connecting the two; scene for from the biblical story The Legend of the Prodigal Son, probably used for a paper theatre version of the story. German, Augsburg, ca.1700, printed by Albrecht Schmidt (about 1667-1744).
Physical description
Woodcut-printed sheet, coloured by hand, showing a scene for the biblical story of The Legend of the Prodigal Son, of a store-room in the servants' quarters of a house with a doorway and stairs leading down to the cellar which contains three large barrels. The top half of the image is the store room, in which one servant stands, while another is walking down the stairs in the lower half of the image, a candlestick and jug in her hands. The print includes the name of the printer in the lower margin, although it is not all legible.
Dimensions
  • Height: 37.0cm
  • Width: 37.0cm
Credit line
Herbert Hinkins Collection
Production
Name of printer included in the title in the lower margin, although partially obscured.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This hand-coloured woodcut by Albert Schmidt, a German publisher of popular prints and playing cards, was printed in about 1700 in Augsburg, Germany, and coloured later by hand with watercolour. It represents a lstore room and a cellar of a grand house, with three large barrels in the cellar, and was made as a scene for the biblical story of The Legend of the Prodigal Son. It is` one of a series of six relating to this story. Sheets like this relating to various biblical stories were probably the basis for an early form of German Toy Theatre.

The series also includes a sheet of characters, with four boars and a trough. From the way the characters are portrayed and set out on the sheet it appears that it was meant to be cut up and used in performance in conjunction with a text. It is unlikely that the images were meant for one static three-dimensional image like a 'Nativity', but rather for performance.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Papier Theater Issue no.26; December 2003.
  • Röhler, Walter. Das Europäische Kindertheatrer, Mörstadt, 1958
Collection
Accession number
S.155:6-2007

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Record createdSeptember 13, 2007
Record URL
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