An Imposing and Stunning Pair Austrian Hand Decorated pale yellow ground porcelain and gilt mounted twin swan neck scroll handle Table or Mantle Urns of traditional form, now converted to a Pair of Electric Table Lamps, of outstanding quality and quite generous proportions, made during the last half of the Nineteenth Century.
Each urn of ovoid outline exquisitely hand painted with views of a Romantic Courting Couple in Eighteenth Century dress within a landscape, above a square base with similar and flower decoration on all four sides, the back areas also similarly decorated.
Condition: Good condition for such early pieces with no losses to porcelain, the swan neck handles are perfect, no evidence of and damage to porcelain. Both pieces are constructed with a central metal rod which is bolted together, ending on four ball supports. Vienna Beehive mark is covered by the later ormolu plate underneath.
Height: (entire as shown on image one, an impressive) 16.5" (42cm). Width: (across handles) 6.75" (17cm). Depth: (at base) 4.75” (12.25cm).
Location: Dublin City, Ireland.
Affordable fixed charge Worldwide Store to door shipping offered.
The Royal Vienna Porcelain Manufactory was founded in 1718, making it Europe’s second oldest porcelain manufacturer after Meissen.
Having discovered the secret to producing hard-paste porcelain, the porcelain manufacturers in Vienna, under their director Claudius Innocentius du Paquier, were granted the privilege of being Vienna’s sole porcelain producer by the Emperor Karl VI.
The factory ran into financial trouble in 1744, when the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory was taken over by the Empress Maria Theresa. After this point the factory started to flourish, producing high-end porcelain figures, tableware and vases.
It was from 1780 that, under a new director, the Vienna Porcelain manufacturers started to produce pieces in the more austere and elegant Neoclassical style, and started to feature lavish gilt decoration using real gold on their pieces.
In the 19th Century Viennese porcelain was particularly popular among Europe’s expanding middle classes, but the factory eventually closed in 1864. A new factory was eventually opened in 1923 in Augarten, where it still operates today.
Stunning Pair Table Lamps in superb condition.