Inspired by the ‘Frozen Charlottes’
Christa Broeren (1951) grew up in Schiedam and often stayed in Middelburg during her youth. The reconstruction of the city in the 1950s, particularly the town hall and the abbey, made a great impression. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Amersfoort and in Rotterdam, specializing in ceramics and spatial design. In addition to teaching, she was active as a visual artist in Deventer during the 1980s and was a member of the Arts Council in the arts education department. In the 1990s, she became the director of the visual arts department at the Noordelijke Hogeschool Leeuwarden and subsequently an inspector at the Inspectorate of Education. For the past four years, she has once again been intensively working with ceramics. Her sculptures are inspired by 19th-century earthenware dolls, the Frozen Charlottes.
Title: Aunt Kaatje’s table with the dollhouse featuring the rooms of female ancestors | Dimensions: 1 meter 50 cm high, width 60 cm | Technique/material: fine white chamotte and glazed in white, turquoise, and red | Created 2025 | Selling price (without table & photos): €800
Title: Baby doll at the laundry | Dimensions: various | Technique/material: fine white chamotte clay and turquoise glaze | Created 2025 | Selling price: €250 (without zinc plinth)
Title: Baby doll at the laundry | Dimensions: various | Technique/material: fine white chamotte clay and turquoise glaze | Created 2025 | Selling price: €250 (without zinc plinth)
Freestanding installation with three arrangements of ceramic sculptures on the theme of ‘female ancestors’. In the center, on ‘Aunt Kaatje’s table’, stands a dollhouse with 4 rooms plus an attic belonging to female ancestors. The walls are covered with portraits of the female ancestors, my family tree in the female line from approximately 1850. The rooms contain ceramic furniture, including beds for many small children and ceramic toddlers. In the attic, there are trunks and drying racks with clothes, many garments hanging to dry. The photos were taken in Middelburg; the maternal ancestors lived and resided in Walcheren.
Drying racks and dollhouse are from the brand Petite Amelie.
Date:
11 juni 2025
