It could be the craftsmanship, or the cherubic
faces or the humorous antics. Whatever it is, somehow, M.I. Hummel
porcelain figurines, inspired by the 67-year-old paintings of
a German nun, have become cherished collectibles, passed down
from generation to generation of Brooklyn families.
On Mother’s Day weekend, master painter Christina Goihl arrived
at the Royal Gallery in Bay Ridge with a metal suitcase full
of paints, paintbrushes and pens. The artist, one of many who
paint the Hummel porcelain figures for the Rodental, Germany-based
company Goebel, is always warmly received when she visits America.
After all, when she signs one of the popular collector’s items
on its base, the figurine increases in value.
While many of the Royal Gallery’s customers couldn’t be at the
store at 7905 Fifth Ave. that day to have their collectibles
signed, they entrusted hundreds of them to the store’s clerks,
who unboxed them and handed them to Goihl one at a time. The
artist steadied her arm on the edge of a card table and in a
measured, small script wrote her name, title and the date, "11
May 2002," on the underside of each.
"They are popular in Germany, too," Goihl said of the
Hummels. "But the people here enjoy them more. Americans
are really fond of them."
Bensonhurst resident Jerry Ciaravalo came to the store with his
Polaroid camera to catch Goihl [pronounced GOY-el] at work. He
encouraged his son, Jerry, 4, to get in his snapshots.
"I like the decoration," Ciaravalo said of his reasons
for collecting the figurines. "I appreciate what the artists
do." Goihl signed his $625 Hummel piece "Making New
Friends," which depicts a boy building a snowman.
The Hummel figurines are young Bavarian children, in traditional
German dress, at play. They are based on seven decades-old paintings
by the Franciscan nun Sister Maria Innocentia (Berta) Hummel
(1909-1946).
According to Goebel sales representative Carlin Long, to date,
the Hummel figurines are still approved by the sisters of Hummel’s
convent, the artistic board at the Convent of Siessen.
While she worked, Goihl chatted with the customers and helped
Ciaravalo’s son paint the hair of a girl figurine.
In 1984, Goihl began painting at Goebel at the tender age of
15. After a three-year apprenticeship, she became a master painter,
using Hummel’s subdued palette of paints to color the figurines.
(Each figurine is completely hand-painted, with metallic oxide
powders mixed as needed with balsam oil and turpentine.) Goihl
is based in the municipality of Teuschnitz in northern Bavaria.
"I like to paint the socks and dresses," said Goihl,
who paints the entire figurine when on tour. "At the factory,
we have to follow instructions for the colors." She said
that the factory operates like an assembly line with one painter
confined to coloring shoes, and another, jackets.
Goihl’s enviable position allows her to paint, which, she said,
she "loves," and to travel for the company. Although
when she visited Epcot Center at Walt Disney World in Florida,
"All the painters were complaining. We didn’t want to dress
up in costume," she said laughing.
While she paints early 20th-century German children in dirndls,
lederhosen, aprons and kerchiefs, Goihl’s a modern 33-year-old
woman in slacks and a red-checked shirt. (However, she’s not
shy about pointing out her watch with a Hummel figure on its
face.)
One of the figures she likes is titled "Call to Glory,"
a boy with three flags waving over his head – a German flag,
an American flag and the European flag.
"I own a few myself. I have really old pieces, bought in
the 1950s and ’60s by my grandmother for just a few dollars,"
she said wonderingly. The Hummels now retail from $60 for a scene
to $26,550 for a 32-inch figurine.
Long said that the Royal Gallery has such a "phenomenal
customer base" they are eligible for a Hummel artist visit
every year.
"Many of the collectors made their first [Hummel] purchases
overseas during the war," said Long.
Gallery owner Connie Mahanna said she can’t name a best-selling
Hummel at her store. "Everything new is popular," she
said.
According to the M.I. Hummel Web site, www.mihummel.com, "Franz
Goebel, owner of the renowned porcelain firm, W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik,
had an instinct that figurines of children would appeal to Germans
hungering for joy during difficult times [the economic depression
of the 1930s]."
January 9, 1935 is considered the official birthday of M.I. Hummel
figurines, but "World War II severely restricted figurine
production," according to the Web site. "Once the war
ended, M.I. Hummel figurines continued winning friends all over
the world. As the merry figurines appeared once more in shops
throughout Germany, they became instantly popular – especially
with American GI’s."
It seems that wars are still a part of the Hummel story. Goihl
said that since Sept. 11, when traveling to the United States,
her case of paints is inspected more scrupulously by customs,
and she almost missed one flight out of Chicago because of the
searches. "We [the Goebel painters] no longer carry any
turpentine or oils, just the powder paints in here," she
explained of her travel cases.
Despite the challenges of international travel, she enjoys working
with the public in America and on American military bases in
Germany, she said.
Although some of the stories she hears are not necessarily happy
ones. "One gentleman bought a figurine for his wife. She
was really sick," Goihl said, pausing. "It touched
me really."
At the Royal Gallery, customer Gloria Fennikoh, a Bay Ridge resident
for 63 years, said she has "a couple hundred" in her
Hummel collection and her family knows she’s pleased to get them
for Christmas and birthday gifts. On that day, she had seven
signed, including a firefighter, she said, in memory of a friend
who perished on Sept. 11.
Fennikoh said her collection is special to her because she’s
of German heritage and "it’s the enjoyment. Their expressions,
too," she said.
For her, many of her figurines have sentimental attachments,
from the firefighter to the train conductor, which reminds her
of her father who worked for the Long Island Rail Road.
Fennikoh, who has been a Hummel collector for 41 years, said
she received her first Hummel piece – "the boy with the
umbrella" – when her first son was born. Her mother was
also a Hummel collector.
"When my mother passed away, I told my niece and my daughter
to pick one of her Hummels to remember her by. The ones they
chose, my mother had written their names on their bottom. ’How
did grandma know?’ my daughter, asked me," Fennikoh recalled,
her eyes tearing up.
The Hummel Web site hints that its collectors are aging, by offering
tips on how to appraise their collection so it can be divided
fairly among family members. For collectors like Fennikoh, whose
collection started with her mother and continues with her daughter,
and Ciaravalo, who enjoys sharing Hummels with his son, it seems
that the sentimental and artistic value of these porcelain figurines
will continue to captivate the hearts of generations of Brooklyn
collectors to come.
The Royal Gallery is located at 7905
Fifth Ave. in Bay Ridge. For store hours, call (718) 745-3629.
For more information about the M.I. Hummel collection, go to
www.mihummel.com.
