Antique of the Week: Hedi Schoop Dutch Figurines

As everyone in Kensington knows, Antique Row is one of the community’s points of pride. Howard Avenue and its side streets are lined with shops specializing in antique furniture, rugs, vintage toys, used books and more. This large presence in the community sparked our feature, Antique of the Week, where we will showcase a different item or curiosity each week to bring attention to pieces from the past.

Among the porcelain pieces at Split Personality are Hedi Schoop’s Dutch pair evoking a simpler, more peaceful time in the past, a complete contrast to Schoop’s own past. Judy Sanders, the proprietor of Split Personality, said that Schoop fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and opened her own pottery store in Hollywood. Sanders said that Schoop personally designed the figurines, and she employed a lot of refugee actors, dancers, and musicians. She even did an 18 inch tall figurine of Josephine Baker, which Sanders has in her private collection.

Sanders said that the male figurine of the Dutch pair used to have a rope with a little basket, and the Dutch girl has a hole on her side to hold fresh cut flowers.

Sanders is selling the Dutch pair for $175. Interested parties can stop by Split Personality at  3776 Howard Ave. or call 301-962-5222 for more information on the antique.