Statuette

This German statuette by an unknown artist from the 16th century represents a nude standing figure of a boy with his hands clasped in front.

It was dug up near Cologne and is of pipeclay, which is a fine white clay also used to make tobacco pipes and pottery. Conveniently situated on a major trading route, Siegburg was a centre of ceramic production with well-organised workshops and kilns in which also pipe-clay figures were fired.