Skip Navigation

Statuette of Blacksmith

Union Porcelain Works, Karl L. H. Müller

Decorative Arts and Design

On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
Karl Mueller originally patented the design for this genre figure in 1868, producing it in several sizes in metal in partnership with his brother Nicholas. After he joined UPW, the figure was also produced in unglazed porcelain, or Parian ware.
MEDIUM Unglazed porcelain
DATES ca. 1876
DIMENSIONS 12 x 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. (30.5 x 12.1 x 12.1 cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS Incised on back of block which supports anvil: "U.P.W. / GREENPOINT. / N.Y."; incised below block, "K. MULLER."
SIGNATURE no signature
INSCRIPTIONS no inscriptions
ACCESSION NUMBER 68.87.55
CREDIT LINE Gift of Franklin Chace
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Unglazed white porcelain figure of a naturalistically rendered blacksmith. Bearded man, standing, raises a pipe to his mouth with proper left hand and has proper right hand raised over head (hole through right hand, perhaps held a tool or something for lighting pipe); he wears hat, short-sleeved shirt, and an apron tied around his waist; he leans against a block supporting an anvil over which is his smock or coat; standing on a disk base with hammer, horseshoe, and pinchers at his feet. Condition: Fair; hairline cracks throughout, dirt in crevasses, and chips in brim of hat, bottom of apron, and around base.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
CAPTION Union Porcelain Works (1863-ca. 1922). Statuette of Blacksmith, ca. 1876. Unglazed porcelain, 12 x 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. (30.5 x 12.1 x 12.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Franklin Chace, 68.87.55. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 68.87.55_threequarter_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE 68.87.55_threequarter_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.