Pair of vases; Germany, ca. 20th century

Pair of vases; Germany, ca. 20th century
Glazed porcelain
Bears a stamp on the base
Measurements: 67 x 40 x 27 cm.

Pair of glazed and gilded porcelain vases in the Louis XV style, possibly from the Frankenthal manufactory. The body, with a rounded profile resting on a balustrade foot and a square base, is decorated on a pink background with a large central medallion featuring a cut-out outline that contains a floral bouquet; on either side are large gilded handles with a scroll-shaped profile, flanked by garlands of flowers in relief. The neck, fluted and decorated with borders, is topped by a lid crowned with a small gilded cherub. The base, with a mixtilinear profile, is decorated with more flowers in relief and four lion-mask motifs applied at the corners, resting on small feet.

The extraordinary commercial success of the Meissen manufactory during the 18th century led—beginning in the late 18th century but especially throughout the 19th and 20th centuries—to the flourishing of numerous Central European manufactories (including Frankenthal itself, as well as Nymphenburg, Fürstenberg, Volkstedt, and Höchst) which, in the shadow of the Saxon factory’s prestige, developed their own interpretations of the Rococo style, with particular emphasis on floral decoration in relief and vivid polychromy. The pink background decorating these pieces refers to the famous “rose Pompadour” or “fond rose,” one of the most admired colors in 18th-century European porcelain, originally developed at Sèvres in the mid-18th century and later widely reproduced by these same Central European manufacturers in their decorative productions of the 19th and 20th centuries.