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Not currently on display at the V&A

A naked boy playing bagpipes

Statuette
about 1650 (made)
Artist/Maker
Kern, Johann Georg (maker)
Place of origin
Koblenz (made)

This stocky naturalistic figure of a naked boy playing the bagpipes is in the tradition of seventeenth century small-scale sculpture and is similar to the ivories carved by Leonhard Kern, Johann Georg Kern's uncle.


Object details

Category
Sculpture
Object type
Statuette
TitleA naked boy playing bagpipes (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted limewood
Limewood
Painted
Brief description
Statuette, wood, boy playing bagpipes, possibly by Johann Georg Kern, South Germany, ca. 1650
Physical description
Figure, painted limewood. Standing, naked, turing slightly to the right and blowing the bagpipes which he holds under his left arm. On a flat round marble base.
Dimensions
  • Height: 55cm
  • Weight: 6.20kg
Object history
Bought from Mr Joseph Block for £150.
Historical context
Similar painted wooden figures are in Berlin Die Bildwerke des Deutschen Museums. III. Gross-plastik, von Theodor Demmler, 1930, 175, 7945, pp. 373-4. cf. Dr Konrad Lange in Berlin Jahrbuch XVII, 1896, pp. 222 amd XXVI, 1905, pp.164. cf. Bange Berlin Jahrbuch XLIV, 1923, pp. 114.
Subjects depicted
Boy
Bagpipe
Summary
This stocky naturalistic figure of a naked boy playing the bagpipes is in the tradition of seventeenth century small-scale sculpture and is similar to the ivories carved by Leonhard Kern, Johann Georg Kern's uncle.
Bibliographic references
  • Baker, Malcolm. Leonhard Kern....Neue Forschungsbeiträge. Schwäbisch Hall. 1989. pp.75-80.
  • Elfenbein Sammlung Reiner Winkler. Vol. II. ed. Christian Theuerkauff, 1994, p. 46. no.12.
  • cf. Sauerlaudt, M. Kleinplastik der deutsches Renaissance. Königstein/ Leipzig, 1927, p. 105
  • Müller, Theodor. Zur süd nederlandischen Kleinplastik des Spätrenaissance' Hamberg, 1958, pp.191.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.25-1941

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O311840/a-naked-boy-playing-bagpipes-statuette-kern-johann-georg/
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