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

Several cracks due to shrinkage can be observed on the reverse.

…; collection ridder-primaat (knight first class) Joseph Désiré Lupus (d. 1822), Brussels, date unknown; purchased with his entire collection by King William I of the Netherlands (1772-1843) and exhibited at Musée Lupus, Palace of Charles de Lorraine, Brussels, 1819; transferred to the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden, The Hague, 1823; transferred to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague, 1875; transferred to the museum, 1885

Object number: BK-NM-7526

This Virgin and Child is a miniature variant of a widely disseminated type that dates from around 1425-50, referred to as the ‘Utrecht Virgin’ type. Contrary to most other examples, the present piece is made of a red-firing clay presumably found locally as opposed to a white-firing clay (pipeclay).¹¹For a rare gilt-bronze cast of the Utrecht Virgin type in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see coll. cat. London 2002, no. 31. Although less detailed and displaying several minor differences, all of these figurines are highly similar to the (moulds of) larger pipeclay figures of saints excavated in Utrecht (cf. BK-C-2018-2) and on the grounds of the former monastery of Diepenveen (cf. BK-NM-11299).²²Cf. Reesing in M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht: 1430-1530/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht: 1430-1530, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, no. 80. Contrary to the 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/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht: 1430-1530, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, pp. 108-27, esp. 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/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus 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/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht: 1430-1530, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, p. 329. The repertoire was nevertheless typically limited to the more popular figures, such as the Virgin and Child and the saints Catherine (cf. BK-KOG-1272-E) and Barbara (cf. BK-KOG-1272-F).

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 881

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'anonymous, Virgin and Child, Northern Netherlands, 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/20036300