JVV 0422
Delft, 1750-1780
Polychrome figure of a child in a rocking cradle with open hood. The child is dressed in a yellow nightgown and sleeping cap with reddish-brown and green dots. It sits upright under a marbled blanket and holds the sides of the yellow cradle with both hands.
Dimensions: length 12,5 cm / 4.92 in., width 9 cm / 3.54 in., height 11,5 cm / 4.52 in.
Similar examples
Similar examples are in the Princessehof ceramics museum in Leeuwarden (inv. no. OKS 1979-008), Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede (inv. no. R 240) and the Art Museum in The Hague (inv. no. 1059868). The figure in The Hague is almost identical to this specimen: the child also lies under a marbled blanket but is dressed in a red nightgown with yellow dots.
Explanatory note
Figures of children in a rocking cradle are generally dated to the second half of the eighteenth century. They may have been inspired by plates, made at the birth of Prince William V in 1748, depicting a child in a cradle. At the time, the rocking cradles with children may also have been initially intended as an expression of support for the House of Orange. Separately, they were perfect gifts for a married couple to wish them a child-rich marriage.
