Flute-playing Putto, c. 1910

As with the work Pagageno as Putto, the designs for this ceramic sculpture go back to Michael Powolny (1871–1954) and were executed by the Viennese ceramics company Wiener Keramik. During a time of rapidly increasing mass production, the factory was inspired by the English Arts and Crafts movement, and produced decorative objects and articles of daily use meant to combine artisan quality with experimental design. Aside from ceramic works of radically simplified forms, such as Vase, this chubby-cheeked putto proves that mythologizing children’s motifs from the time of Historicism were still in demand. The baroque-looking body shape of the flute player, meanwhile, underwent a modernization in keeping with Jugendstil through the stylized birds and ornamental flower decoration.

MN, 2024