Vase Amphora “Fairy Tale Princess” ca. 1899
Monumental Portrait vase “Fairy Tale Princess”, design Nikolaus Kannhäuser, manufactured by Amphora-Werke Riessner Stellmacher & Kessel in Turn-Templitz, ca. 1899, ivory porcelain, marked
Out of stock
Description
A characteristic product line of Bohemian Amphora Werke are vessels made of ivory porcelain. The term refers to vases made from the finest clay, artfully glazed, and elaborately decorated with relief applications.
A group of their own, completely en-vogue with the contemporary taste of French Art Nouveau, represent the “portait vases” with their depictions of female faces.
Nikolaus Kannhäuser, then director of Amphora Werke, designed the “Fairy Tale Princess”-series around 1899. The monumental vase, almost 45 centimeters in height, bears an extravagant ornamentation. Main motif is the delicately drawn face of the princess, a veil-like robe wrapped around her portrait and the young lady wearing a crown.
Centered behind her head one can see the sun rinsing, surrounding her like an aureole.
Her noble robe is painted in light and cobalt blue underglaze with with intricate golden embellishments. Only hinted at in the background is a deciduous forest in purple, brown and gold colors. The base of the vase was decorated with gold and green fusions with crimson flowers set with round semi-precious stones. Finally, the entire surface was finished with relief painting in matte gold. This is the largest version known of this motif so sought after by collectors, and we are very proud to present such an outstanding work by Amphora.
Execution
The "Amphora-Werke k.k. priv. Keramische Werke Rießner, Stellmacher & Kessel" was founded in 1892 by Hans and Carl Rießner, Eduard Stellmacher and Rudolf Kessel in Turn-Teplitz. The Austro-Hungarian company produced high quality ceramic objects and is one of the most famous manufactories of the Art Nouveau period. Soon after its founding, the company employed 300 people and exported its sought-after products all over the world. Besides rather commercial products, more elaborate objects were created for world exhibitions and other international art fairs. These partly monumental exhibits include vases with grotesque animal creatures such as dragons and sea monsters, inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, as well as vessels with maiden and delicate female figures in allegorical designs. The high-quality standards of the founding members brought along the so-called "ivory porcelain", a glazed thin-walled type of ceramics, which was often enhanced with gold, cold enamel painting and gemstones. Even then, the company won high awards with this technique and the elaborate surface design, including four "Grand Prix" at various world exhibitions. Today, exceptional specimens are represented in famous art nouveau museums such as the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe and the Bröhan Museum, Berlin.
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