Sculpted in relief.

Set in a 19th-century, giltwood frame.

Collection of the artist, Amsterdam, c. 1781; his son, Johannes Christopher Mittscherlich (1781-1871), Amsterdam, 1793; his grandson Frederik Marx, Amsterdam, 1871;¹¹Frederik Marx was the son of Mittscherlich’s daughter, Helena Gezina Mittscherlich, Amsterdam (1818-1855), married to Philip Michael Marx (1812-1861). See J.R. de Lorm, ‘Een documentaire schenking uit de nalatenschap van de zilversmid Christoffel Mittscherlich (1740-1793)’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 40 (1992), pp. 240-45, esp. pp. 243-44. his granddaughters, among whom M. Jensma-Marx, Vorden, 1924; by whom, donated to the museum,²²J.R. de Lorm, ‘Een documentaire schenking uit de nalatenschap van de zilversmid Christoffel Mittscherlich (1740-1793)’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 40 (1992), pp. 240-45, esp. p. 244 (note 3) for the entire donation. 1991

Object number: BK-1991-36-C

Credit line: Gift of M. Jensma-Marx, Vorden

Christoffel Mittscherlich (1740-1793), the maker of these three children’s portraits, was a master apprentice to the leading Amsterdam silversmith Johannes Schiotling (1730-1799). Originating from Reval (now Tallin), Estonia, the Wanderkünstler Mittscherlich arrived in Amsterdam in 1766, where he would remain for the rest of his life. His initial plan to move to Berlin or London was abandoned upon meeting his future wife, Anna Bruné, sister of the silversmith Pieter Adolph Bruné (1750-1829). Mittscherlich worked as a designer and modeller in Schiotling’s atelier up to the end of his life. His only known surviving works are two signed plaquettes in silver: an allegory of marriage and a depiction of the Triumph of Galathea.³³London, Victoria and Albert Museum, inv. no. 55-1869 and the Rijksmuseum (inv. no. BK-1976-78), see J. Verbeek, ‘De autobiografie van Christoffel Mittscherlich (1740-1793), meesterknecht van de Amsterdamse zilversmid Johannes Schiotling (I)’, Antiek 13 (1978), pp. 291-94, esp. p. 291, figs. 1, 2; a third plaquette, depicting the Supper at Emmaus, has also been attributed to Mittscherlich, see J.R. de Lorm, ‘Een documentaire schenking uit de nalatenschap van de zilversmid Christoffel Mittscherlich (1740-1793)’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 40 (1992), pp. 240-45, esp. p. 245, note 9. These three informal, almost naive marble portraits, made as a kind of family mementos, are similar to the modelled silver plaquettes. Each relief holds the image of one of Mittscherlich’s children portrayed around the age of four, with the first trace of individuality just beginning to emerge and the risk of premature death greatly diminished. Only the earliest portrait, that of the eldest child, Christina Maria (shown here), bears an inscription with the child’s name, age and birthdate. The two later medallions – portraits of the only son, Johannes Christopher (BK-1991-36-B), and the second daughter, Anna Maria (BK-1991-36-A) – date from circa 1785 and circa 1788 respectively. Around the middle or second half of the nineteenth century, all three portraits were mounted in identical, gilded rococo-style wooden frames, thus indicating that they had remained together after passing on to Mittscherlich’s family descendants. Not included in the portrait series are three additional children born of Mittscherlich and Anna Bruné’s union, all who perished shortly after birth.

The present portraits must be seen in the context of the special attention Mittscherlich bestowed on his family, a characteristic of many migrant families. The same motivation also led to the writing of an autobiography entitled Gedächtnis Buch (Memento Book), examining his own life, and that of his forebears, wife and children. Thanks to a nineteenth-century copy of this ‘ego document’ – likely made by Mittscherlich’s son, Johannes Christopher – relatively much is known about the artist’s background.⁴⁴Rijksmuseum, inv. Doc. & Obj. 1991-33; J. Verbeek, ‘De autobiografie van Christoffel Mittscherlich (1740-1793), meesterknecht van de Amsterdamse zilversmid Johannes Schiotling’ (I-VI), Antiek 13 (1978), pp. 291-94 (I), Antiek 13 (1979), pp. 620-23 (II), Antiek 14 (1980), pp. 463-68 (III), Antiek 15 (1980), pp. 30-32 (IV), Antiek 16 (1981), pp. 28-32 (V) and ibid., pp. 487-91 (VI). The writer’s life story, begun at the age of forty (in 1780), spans the period from his birth to the winter of 1785. Filled with pious personal reflections, the text reveals him to be a deeply religious man. Mittscherlich also provides details of the birth and other biographical data of the three children portrayed in the Amsterdam portraits. One reads, for example, that on 21 May 1781 a son came to see the light of day, Johannes Christopher, named after the author and his patron saint. He also tells of how the young boy’s difficult start in life: ‘Namely, the Thursday before Christmas, our son came down with a three-day coldish fever, when he was just three months old, and, despite our having tried to fight this fever by every means possible, no remedy helped… until finally, by God’s Grace, after a long period of failing health, our dear son became completely healthy, when he was two years old.’⁵⁵Ons zoontje namelijk overviel Donderdag voor Kermis eene driedaagsche koude koorts, toen hij nog even 3 maanden oud was, en, in weerwil wij alle middelen in het werk stelden, om die koorts tegen te gaan, wilde geen middel helpen.....tot eindelijk, door Gods Genade, na een lange sukkelpartij, ons lieve zoontje volkomen gezond werd, toen hij 2 jaren oud was. About the eldest child, the father relates the following: ‘The 2nd Sept: 1782 our sweet daughter Christina began reading the Bible for the first time and writing on 3 March. In this summer Ao 1783, both our children got the measles.’⁶⁶Den 2e Sept: 1782 begon onze lieve dochter Christina voor de eerste maal in den Bijbel te lezen en 3 Maart voor het eerst te schrijven. In dezen zomer Ao 1783 kregen onze beide kinderen de mazelen. In November that same year, a third child was born, Anna Maria, named after Mittscherlich’s sister-in-law, Anna Maria Bruné.⁷⁷SAA, DTB Dopen 5001, inv.nr. 255, fol. 11 nr. 10, 14 November 1783, Lutherse Kerk, Amsterdam. With the mother overcome by rheumatic fever a half-year after giving birth, she could no longer breastfeed her little daughter. For this reason, a daughter of Mittscherlich’s boss took over the child’s care: ‘God’s miraculous Steadfast care for that innocent child also ensured that Miss Schiotling was so kind to take on this responsibility and nurse [her] for 7 weeks long with the greatest tenderness and attentiveness: and after this time our daughter again became completely healthy, and became so much stronger, that she first began walking on 15 December, even though she was only a month past her first year. The first winter she endured was also very unusual and rare, as that winter was exceptionally cold and lasted very long.’⁸⁸Gods wonderbare Trouwe zorg voor dat onschuldig kind beschikte het ook zóó, dat Jufvrouw Schiotling zoo goed was, dit kind tot zich te nemen en het 7 weken lang met de grootste teederheid en zorgvuldigheid te verplegen: en na dien tijd werd ons dochtertje ook weer volkomen gezond, en nam dusdanig in krachten toe, dat zij 15 December voor het eerst begon te loopen, hoewel zij nog maar eene maand over het jaar was. Haar eerste winter, dien zij doorleefde, was ook zeer merkwaardig en zeldzaam, want die winter was bovenmate koud en duurde zeer lang. J. Verbeek, ‘De autobiografie van Christoffel Mittscherlich (1740-1793), meesterknecht van de Amsterdamse zilversmid Johannes Schiotling (VI)’, Antiek 16 (1981), pp. 487-91, esp. p. 490.

Three portraits in coloured wax are also by Mittscherlich’s hand: two reliefs made for his employer – portraits of Schiotling and his wife, given as a gift for the couple’s twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in 1788 – and a portrait of his brother-in-law, Pieter Adolph Bruné (1750-1829).⁹⁹H. Vreeken, ‘Christoffel Mittscherlich (1740-1793), een dubbelportret in gepolychromeerde was’, Antiek 29 (1994), pp. 46-50; E. Koldeweij, ‘Een wasportret van Mittscherlich. De Amsterdamse zilversmid Pieter Adolph Bruné geïdentificeerd’, Antiek 30 (1995), pp. 31-32. As with his marble children’s portraits, here one finds the sitters portrayed in the same, somewhat rigid pose. Mittscherlich apparently lacked the skill to render the human figure convincingly ‘after life’. These works are therefore strikingly different from the aforementioned reliefs executed in silver – works possibly based on the designs of others. As a group, Mittscherlich’s three portraits serve to convey the exceptionally close ties existing in the milieu of the Amsterdam silversmiths, in which immigrant and Dutch families became interwoven through marriage and professional association.

Frits Scholten, 2026

J.R. de Lorm, ‘Een documentaire schenking uit de nalatenschap van de zilversmid Christoffel Mittscherlich (1740-1793)’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 40 (1992), pp. 240-45; E. Meyer et al., De gebeeldhouwde kop: De ontwikkeling van de gebeeldhouwde kop en het portretbeeld in Nederland van middeleeuwen tot heden, exh. cat. Nijmegen (Nijmeegs Museum Commanderie van Sint-Jan) 1994, nos. 43-45; F. Scholten, Gebeeldhouwde portretten/Portrait Sculptures, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1995, pp. 94, 95 (no. 44); H. Vreeken, ‘Christoffel Mittscherlich (1740-1793), een dubbelportret in gepolychromeerde was’, Antiek 29 (1994), pp. 46-50; E. Koldeweij, ‘Een wasportret van Mittscherlich. De Amsterdamse zilversmid Pieter Adolph Bruné geïdentificeerd’, Antiek 30 (1995), pp. 31-32

F. Scholten, 2026, 'Christoffel Mittscherlich, Portrait of Christina Maria Mittscherlich, Amsterdam, c. 1781', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20056449