Dramatic Bohemian Art Nouveau Pottery Vase

Item Details

A dramatic Bohemian Art Nouveau pottery vessel, after Stellmacher in the Teplitz region, and likely Royal Dux. This impressive piece has a trumpet rim with gold enamel band. The long neck leads into the basin, having a straight collar foot. Surrounding the neck is a sinister, muscular, applied sea serpent, reminiscent of Stellmacher’s Saurian designs, winding its way down the vase, clawed feet clinging to the sides of the vase. Its sleek, menacing head with threatening eyes and open mouth, teeth bared, turns to meet another fanciful sea creature, a fish-like creature with bulbous head and eyes; mouth open in surprise. Each creature was hand carved and applied in deep relief. Surrounding the two creatures are crashing, turbulent waves rendered in great detail. The piece is glazed overall in a tawny graduated ivory; the sinister creature on the neck has hand painted detail on the green scales, with amber and gold fins and a bronze-toned glaze. The fish-like creature, after Amphora’s Exotic Fish, is rendered in deep browns with bronze toned enameled details to the head and mouth. Vessels such as this were painstakingly molded and carved by hand, and glazed as many as ten times to achieve the matte and gloss glazes, and hand carved to achieve the evocative sense of movement and action. Marked to the base ‘3 335 2.’

Condition

There is very little wear to the vase, with only very minor chipping to some of the fins. In remarkably good shape for its age.

Dimensions

Item #

15CIN463-188