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Porridge plate with 'Joy germ': Bruce 1937

Artwork Porridge plate with 'Joy germ': Bruce this artwork made of Earthenware, modelled lip applied with a pink koala and a figure of an imp. Olive green glaze, created in 1937-01-01
Accession No.
2017.108
Date Created
1937
Gallery location
On display in QAG Gallery 17
Department
Australian Art
Dimensions A
12 x 20 x 15cm
Media Category
Ceramic
Secondary Media Category
earthenware
Medium
Earthenware, modelled lip applied with a pink koala and a figure of an imp. Olive green glaze
Place Created
Brisbane
Credit Line
Gift of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble in memory of their mother Elsie Harvey Noble through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2008

This porridge bowl, made especially for Bruce Noble, was inscribed with the words ‘Joy Germ’ under the little laughing figurine. A ‘joy germ’ was a tiny mythical good-luck figure that spread joy and laughter, popularised during the 1918–20 flu epidemic. Bruce’s twin brother, David, had a matching porridge bowl.

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COLLECTION FOCUS: ‘Small Figures’

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Exhibitions featuring this object

A ceramic sculpture of a headless, armless figure on a green sofa. Liu Jianhua / China b.1962 / Obsessive memories (detail) 2000 / Porcelain, modelled and with overglaze colours, incised / Purchased 2004. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / © Jianhua Liu

‘Small Figures’

Sep 2023 - Aug 2025

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