Nel Bakema (1902-1992) Armadillo

About this piece

This is a rare and special animal sculpture, it's a design by the Dutch sculptor Nel Bakema. She has depicted this armadillo in such a way that the creature also has something touching. At least I suspect that it is some kind of armadillo, it is in any case an armoured animal. This sculpture was made around 1930, it is made of tin that has been given a bronze-coloured patina.

The animal stands on a blackened wooden pedestal and is signed with the monogram of Nel Bakema "F.B." (by Francina Bakema).

Biography:
Francina Petronella Josephina (Nel) Bakema (Amsterdam, 1902-Haarlem, 1992) was a sculptor and medalist. She was educated at the Académie Royale des beaux-arts in Brussels and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam, from 1930-35. In Amsterdam she is a student of Jan Bronner and Theo van Reijn. Later on, a documentary was made about Jan Bronner's 5 female students entitled "A Picture of a Woman" in 1989. She was portrayed there together with Jeanne Bijlo, Loekie Metz, Liesbeth Wezelaar-Dobbelman and Jos van Riemsdijk.

She has worked in Antwerp, Brussels, Haarlem, Amsterdam and Bloemendaal.
She worked in a figurative style. She used various materials such as bronze, pewter, stone, clay, plaster and wood.

She made the resistance medal of the Dutch Circle of Sculptors, also the resistance monument in Dokkum (1949 is by her hand.
She once made a portrait bust of Roland Holst, who also seems to have been her teacher. She was a member of various artists' associations, including the Dutch Circle of Sculptors, the association of visual artists "Kunst Zij ons Doel" in Haarlem.

She had a studio in Bloemendaal for a long time. She died in 1992 in Haarlem, just 90 years old.

Literature:
- P.M.J. Jacobs;"Beeldend Nederland, Beeldende kunstenaars in Nederland geboren na 1880.", Two volumes, Tilburg, 1993. Volume I, p. 52
- Pieter A. Scheen; "Lexicon Nederlandse beeldende kunstenaars 1750-1950", 2 volumes, s'Gravenhage, 1969. Volume 1, p. 41.

Condition

There is a small dent on the back.