Snowdrop (sculpture) explained

Snowdrop (Swedish: Snöklockan; French: La Perce-Neige) is a standing female nude in plaster, sculpted by Per Hasselberg in 1881. It is named after the snowdrop flower at the woman's feet, although the title also refers to its young, innocent subject stepping out of childhood and into womanhood - Hasselberg used a sixteen-year-old Italian girl as a model for the work

Exhibited at the 1881 Paris Salon, it was the only Swedish work of art to receive an honorable mention, leading to Hasselberg's definitive breakthrough as an artist. The Nationalmuseum in Sweden commissioned a copy in marble in 1883 at the cost of 6,000 kroner - this was awarded a gold medal at the 1883 Salon.

The work became very popular in both public and private contexts, leading to high demand for replicas and full-size and smaller reproductions. It was cast in bronze for Stockholm's Mariatorget, the city's first non-honorific public statue - it was funded by director CR Lamm at Ludvigsberg and inaugurated in November 1900.

Selected copy

• Plaster originals (162 cm): Ronneby town-hall (1881), Waldemarsudde (inköpt 1943) and private collection
• Marble originals : Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (1883),^[1] Göteborgs konstmuseum (1885),^[2] Glyptoteket, Copenhagen (1887-1889)^[3] and the Österslättsskolan, Karlshamn (1890).^[4]
• Bronze casts:
  • 1900, Meyer's Foundry (Mariatorget, Stockholm)
  • 1910, Nordic Company workshops, Nyköping, Falun
  • 1917, Meyer's Foundry, Ronneby Square
  • 1953, C & A Nicci, Rome for Rottneros Park^{[5] [6]}
• Miniature versions, Parian marble - 1700 (50 cm high) were produced 1888-1926 and 625 (60 cm high) 1887-1926, both at the Gustavberg porcelain factory.^{[7] [8]}
• Statue in Skottorps slottspark.^[9]

References

1. Göran Söderlund and Christina Wistman (editors), Lars Engelhardt, Per Myrehed, Sven Nilsson, C.G. Rosenberg and Erik Cornelius (photographs): '"Svenska klassiker - Från historiemåleri och romantik till sekelskiftets stämningsmåleri 1860-1910", Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Utställningskatalog nr 59:01,, p. 146.
2. Håkan Wettre (editor), "Göteborgs Konstmuseum - dess historia och samlingar", 1992,, p. 126.
3. "Europæisk skulptur", Flemming Friborg, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek 1997,, p. 108-109.
4. http://www.karlshamnsmuseum.se/ezweb/files/143200902041130356.doc Karlshamns museum
5. Susanna Björklöf and others: Inventory of Rottneros park : Historisk utveckling och kulturvärden, Länsstyrelsen i Värmlands län, 2007, s. 71, 85.
6. Lennart Wærn:"In memoriam Coco et Coco redivivus - Studier kring ett "förlorat" och "återfunnet" hasselbergverk" i "Det skapande jaget", Konstvetenskapliga institutionen, Göteborgs universitet 1996,, p. 130 and 132.
7. Web site: Arkiverade kopian. https://web.archive.org/web/20160311161826/http://www.figurin.se/xsweden.html. 2016-03-11. 2010-05-07.
8. Book: Carenberg Carl-Olov . Pariantillverkning vid Gustavsberg: 1861-1977 . 2005 . Motala . sv . . 43.
9. Bild i mäklarprospekt 2017-10-15: https://www.skeppsholmen.se/sv/object/images/skottorps-slott-880807/7175685

Bibliography

• Book: Carenberg Carl-Olov . Pariantillverkning vid Gustavsberg: 1861-1977 . 2005 . Motala . sv . . 43.
• Book: Annika Gunnarsson . Per Hasselberg. Waldemarsuddes utställningskatalog 0282-0323 ; 95:10. 2010. Arena/Åmells Artbooks. Malmö. 978-91-7843-325-4. .
• Flemming Friborg: "Europæisk skulptur", Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek 1997,, s. 108-109.
• Hvar 8 dag : illustreradt magasin, Andra årgången (1 oktober 1900 - 29 september 1901), D F Bonnier, Göteborg 1901, s. 112.
• Nationalencyklopedin, Band 8, 1992,, s. 428.
• Göran Söderlund och Christina Wistman (katalogredaktörer), Lars Engelhardt, Per Myrehed, Sven Nilsson, C.G. Rosenberg och Erik Cornelius (foto):"Svenska klassiker - Från historiemåleri och romantik till sekelskiftets stämningsmåleri 1860-1910", Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Utställningskatalog nr 59:01,, s. 146.
• Lennart Wærn: "In memoriam Coco et Coco redivivus - Studier kring ett "förlorat" och "återfunnet" hasselbergverk" i "Det skapande jaget", Konstvetenskapliga institutionen, Göteborgs universitet 1996,, s. 130 och 132.
• Book: Wettre Håkan. Ahlfort Barbro. Carlsson Ebbe . Göteborgs konstmuseum: [dess historia och samlingar] . 1992 . Göteborgs konstmuseum . Göteborg . sv . 91-87968-13-4 . . 126.

External links

• Susanna Björklöf and others: Inventering av Rottneros park : Historisk utveckling och kulturvärden, Länsstyrelsen i Värmlands län, 2007, sid 85. (Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20170911181023/http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/varmland/SiteCollectionDocuments/sv/publikationer/2008/Rottneros_G5_web.PDF)
• Figuriner och statyetter. Gustavsberg & Rörstrand.
• Karlshamns museum
• skulptur.stockholm.se
• Om Snöklockan på goteborg.se