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    Title

  • Sculptures from the collection of Charles Milford (Klaus Mühlfelder)

  • Physical Description

    eight sculptures : various (porcelain, goldleaf, wood, bronze) ; varies

  • Date

    early 20th century

  • Summary

    2019.12a Small porcelain figurine in the shape of a woman dancing. The procelain is white with gold leaf on her headdress and skirt. Has a hallmark on the bottom of the base from the Rosenthal porcelain manufacturer from Selb, Bavaria.

    2019.12b Small Sphinx-like nude female figure carved out of wood. This figure was reportedly made by Hans Bloch as a present to Dr. Simon Mühlfelder.

    2019.12c Small porcelain sculpture of two dancing girls. The porcelain is white with gold leaf around the base and as decoration of the skirts of the girls. Has a hallmark on the bottom of the base from the Hutschenreuther porcelain manufacturer from Selb, Bavaria.

    2019.12d Small porcelain sculpture of the Bamberg Rider equestrian statue from the Bamberg Cathedral. Has a hallmark on the bottom of the base from the Rosenthal porcelain manufacturer from Selb, Bavaria.

    2019.12e Large porcelain sculpture of an Amazon on a horseback, a reproduction of a sculpture by Louise Tuaillon. This version may be by the Berlin Porcelain Manfacturer, though no hallmarks could be found.

    2019.12f Bronze bust showing the head of Klaus Mühlfelder as a boy. The bust was cast from a sculpture by an artist who was a patient of the boy's father, Dr. Simon Mühlfelder. The artist's name may have been Erich Harte. His signature is seen on the back of the bust. The bust is on a heavy marble base.

    2019.12g Large blue vase with a lid. The vase is from the Royal Porcelain Manufacture of Berlin, with hallmarks on the bottom (number 148/217). The vase has two landscape images (one showing spring, the other showing winter) supposedly done by Franz Tuercke.

    2019.12h White plaster bust of an Egyptian princess, the daughter of Queen Nefertiti and King Amenophis. The bust is on a base that has an inscription in German on the back. The artist of the bust is Erich Harte, who signed the base and dated it February 25, 1932.

  • Subject

    Dance; Dancers; Horses

  • Genre

    Figurines; Heads; Portraits

  • Medium

    Furnishings and equipment; Objects; Vases; Sculpture

  • Part Of

    Mühlfelder and Roeckert Families Collection,, AR 25844

  • Accession Number

  • URL

Biographical/Historical Information

Charles C. Milford was born Klaus Mühlfelder in Berlin on July 13, 1927, to Simon Mühlfelder and Hedwig Mühlfelder née Roeckert. Simon came from a Jewish professional family in Thuringia, while Hedwig was a Berliner from a Christian family. Simon and Hedwig intended to leave choice of religion to Charles; however, they baptized him on April 15, 1933, after the Nazis came to power. Because he was classified by the Nazi regime as a Mischling of the first degree, Charles was expelled from school in March 1943. Milford was apprenticed as a telecommunications fitter from April 1943 until he was conscripted into forced labor under Organisation Todt in June 1944. Brought to France, he was forced to repair damage from Allied aerial attacks on the railroad yards at Beauvais and Soissons, which were bombed nightly. As the Allied forces advanced into France, he managed to flee to Berlin in September 1944. He resumed his apprenticeship for three months. In January 1945, he was again conscripted by Organisation Todt and assigned to work as a concrete laborer in Berlin.

After the war’s end, Charles studied German and English in Berlin from 1946-1950. Milford emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1950. In 1951, he signed his “Declaration of Intention” and officially changed his name from Klaus Mühlfelder to Charles C. (Claus) Milford. He entered Columbia University’s School of Library Service in September 1950 and completed his master’s degree in August 1951. Charles was drafted into Army for service in the Korean War in September 1951. After basic training at Fort Lee in Virginia, he was deployed to Korea, where he was assigned to manage the only Special Services Library in South Korea, located in Pusan, from 1952-l 1953. He was released from active duty September 1953.Charles was naturalized as an American citizen on February 1, 1954. Charles C. Milford’s career as a librarian spanned almost 40 years. He was employed as a librarian at the Tacoma Public Library (1953-1959), Oregon State Library (1961-1964), and Stanford University’s Food Research Institute (1964-1991). From 1959 until 1961 he earned his master’s degree in political science from the University of Washington. It was during his time at the Tacoma Public Library that Milford met Patricia Elizabeth Shannon, and they married in 1963 in Berlin, where Charles’s father Simon Mühlfelder and maternal grandmother Agnes Roeckert were still living.

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Citation

Sculptures from the collection of Charles Milford (Klaus Mühlfelder), Leo Baeck Institute, 2019.12a-h.