Formed (solid) in a front and back mould and fired.

Catherine’s head is missing, various breakages.

…; excavated, with BK-KOG-1272-A to -O and BK-KOG-1272-V, during the demolition of the city ramparts near the Tolsteegpoort, Utrecht, 1844;¹¹J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 876. …; Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap, Amsterdam, 1875; on loan to the museum, since 1972

Object number: BK-KOG-1272-E

Credit line: On loan from the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap

This pipeclay figurine of St Catherine of Alexandria, as well as a Virgin and Child (BK-KOG-1272-D) and a St Barbara (BK-KOG-1272-F), are typical examples of late-medieval devotional objects. They are miniature variants of fifteenth-century iconographic types and can be traced to Utrecht on stylistic grounds. All were unearthed during the demolition of the city‘s ramparts near the Tolsteegpoort in 1844. While less detailed and displaying several minor differences, these pieces are all highly similar to moulds used to make larger pipeclay saintly figures that were excavated on the same site.²²Cf. M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht 1430-1530/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, nos. 80-82. Contrary to these larger figures, which were hollow, the smaller variants are solid.³³For the method of manufacture, see S. Ostkamp, ‘Van Utrechtse bodem? Utrecht en de productie van pijpaarden devotionalia’, in M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht 1430-1530, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, pp. 108-27, esp. p. 111. They were also produced in larger editions: vast quantities of (virtually) identical figurines have been unearthed during excavation campaigns in the centres of medieval cities and on the grounds of (former) monastic complexes.⁴⁴Cf. M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht 1430-1530, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, p. 108 and nos. 78 and 79. Thanks to the serial production method and the inexpensive material in which they were made, these figurines were affordable for almost any individual living in the Middle Ages. The convenient format also made these kinds of miniature sculptures ideally suited for carrying in one’s clothing. Besides serving as aids for private devotion, such objects could also be used as a talisman or ‘pocket saint’ to protect the devout Christian against danger, illness and misfortune.⁵⁵Reesing in M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht 1430-1530, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, p. 329.

Bieke van der Mark, 2023

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 876

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'anonymous, St Catherine, Utrecht, c. 1425 - c. 1450', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20036295