Helmut Kohl : Break Through the Wall

Helmut Kohl was the German Chancellor (Head of State) between 1982-1998, who presided over the unification of Germany in 1990. The head was first modelled by Eisch's wife Gretel in 1997 and it was produced in different variations over the years. The V&A head was blown in 2002 and painted and finished in December 2003 and January 2004, the year we acquired it as a gift from the maker. Erwin Eisch painted it in the colours of the German flag, with bricks and protesting figures representing the fall of the Berlin Wall. Its sand-blasted inscription around the lower neck reads 'Break Through the Wall'.