Pair of Vienna Porcelain plates, birds & gilt landscapes, Dachsel design? c.1905

$950.00 AUD $650.00 AUD

Pair of interesting Vienna Porcelain plates, well painted with two birds each, including a kingfisher, blue tit, and goldfinch, set against unusual gilt landscapes with purple geometric clouds in the secessionist manner.
One marked ‘ALEXANDRA PORCELAIN WORKS / Royal Vienna / Turn / Made in Austria’
Circa 1905

21.5cm, Excellent condition

This interesting manufacturer was started by Ernst Wahlis, a porcelain dealer with outlets in London and Vienna. He took over an existing porcelain works at Turn in 1894, with the intention of making ‘Luxury Porcelain’. Ernst Wahliss died in 1900, but his sons kept the firm going. In around 1902 they purchased the moulds of the Vienna factory, and began producing in their style; this is where the ‘Royal Vienna’ in his mark comes from, and there are also examples bearing a shield that looks very like the Vienna ‘beehive’ mark…… Blanks sold by him were probably used by the Dresden decorating studios, as they conformed to what the public expected Vienna porcelain to look like. Such pieces were probably intended to deceive, and are often sold as ‘Royal Vienna’ today.
In 1902 they introduced high-fired enamel decoration onto their porcelain, but it seems this was discontinued in around 1910.

Designers at the works included Paul Dachsel, well known for his designs for other manufacturers – such as Amphora. The trees and purple clouds on these plates are certainly reminiscent of his style and also appear on Amphora products attributed to him.

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