Maria Magdalena Langhans was the wife of the protestant pastor in Hindelbank, who died in childbirth on the eve of Easter in 1751, exactly nine months after their marriage.

The original funerary monument to Maria Langhans and her still-born son was sculpted by Johan August Nahl (1710-1781) shortly after her death and remains in the church of Hindelbank near Bern. It caused a sensation well beyond the borders of Switzerland, and became an essential stop on the Grand Tour.

Models were made in terracotta and a larger version was also made in biscuit porcelain at Nyon in Switzerland.

Terracotta of Langhans tomb by V. Sonnenschein after J.A. Nahl, Bernisches Historisches Museum

Other examples of the Niderviller model can be found in Los Angeles County Museum of Art (formerly from the collections of the Princes of Oettingen-Wallerstein), Musée des Arts Decoratifs, and Musée National de Céramique, Sèvres. Examples of the Nyon tomb are in The Valsecchi Collection in the Palazzo Butera in Palermo, The Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum, (LM75069), and another is on long term loan to the J. Paul Getty Museum (L.2005.113).

Condition:

One cm restored chip, and three minor chips, to faux marble surround. Firing cracks.

Provenance:

Société Industrielle de Mulhouse for over a century

The Société Industrielle de Mulhouse was founded in 1826 in Alsace, as laboratory of ideas where the “Mulhouse model” was developed, this unique convergence between industry, research and teaching. It is considered the first voluntary industrial association in France, that of Paris having been established by the State.

Price: £24,000