Portrait Vase Amphora ca. 1895
Portrait vase, Amphora Riessner Stellmacher & Kessel, Turn-Teplitz, ca. 1895, white biscuit (“ivory porcelain”), marked
Marked with “AMPHORA” in the ellipse, “Turn-Teplitz Bohemia RSTK”, impressed model number “634” and “AH” (artist monogram); Bib.: Richard L. Scott (ed.), Ceramics from the House of Amphora 1890-1915, Sidney/Ohio 2004, p. 85.
Description
The female figure held a central position in Jugendstil in general and particularly in the creations of Amphora’s artists. Their work was strongly influenced by the very floral and stylized French Art Nouveau.
Especially poster art by the likes of Alphonse Mucha and Paul Berthon in Paris were a significant source of inspiration for the Bohemian ceramic artists in Turn-Teplitz around 1900. Consequently, they produced a whole series of vases with female portraits as their main theme. From purely decorative to meaningfully allegorical, a great variety of portrait vases have emerged from the manufacture around that time.
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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