Centerpiece; Germany, 20th century

Centerpiece; Germany, 20th century
Glazed porcelain
Bears a stamp on the base
Measurements: 67 x 35 x 35 cm.

Glazed porcelain centerpiece, made in Germany. The ovoid-shaped bowl, featuring two large handles with a rolled profile, is decorated with a relief frieze of grapevines with leaves and bunches of grapes, among which are two child figures holding a basket of grapes between them. The base is decorated with a border of small flowers in relief, and the entire piece rests on a sculptural group of two seated female figures, dressed in tunics in shades of yellow and mauve, who hold the upper bowl above their heads. The ensemble rests on a circular plinth and, ultimately, on an openwork quadrangular base, decorated with gilded scrollwork and medallions featuring floral bouquets, topped by four volute feet.

The city of Dresden and its surrounding region are the birthplace of European porcelain: it was in Meissen, very close to Dresden and under the patronage of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, that in 1708 Johann Friedrich Böttger, together with the scientist Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, succeeded in deciphering the formula for hard-paste porcelain, which until then had been the exclusive monopoly of China and Japan. The Meissen manufactory, founded in 1710, thus became the first in Europe, and its 18th-century production served as a stylistic model for the numerous workshops and decorators who, by the 19th century, had established themselves in Dresden itself, reproducing and reinterpreting these 18th-century designs to meet the demand of collectors of the time.