I have a slight hitch
In the Harrach book 'From Neuwelt to the whole world'
Mergl J. page 181, there is a footed vase, straightish sided like a tall goblet type shape. plate 213
It has the up and down zig zag meander pattern on it, painted in the same way as my plate and the same way as that on the vase in the Hermitage Museum id'd as Russian.
The colours on the meander pattern are on the same sides of the 3d design as my plate (I now realise two of the colours on the Russian vase meander pattern were the opposite way round to two of the colours on the meander pattern on my plate) although the meander pattern is still, I believe, the same on all three pieces. It uses the same three colours with a dark brown on the 'shadow' face of the pattern and, as far as I can see on the Harrach one, also the fine gilded line on the thin edge facing the viewer.
The body on the vase in the Harrach book is white opaline but is painted in the orange enamel background like my plate. It matches my plate exactly even with production processes taken into account.
The design is described as - 'orange ground with white slipped figures of two Roman soldiers with added black and gold outlines'.
I'm not quite sure what they mean about 'white slipped' because it looks to me as though the body of the soldiers is just the background white opaline of the vase and then they have been outlined (in black and gold apparently although they look as though they are outlined in dark brown with the odd gold highlight around the shield for example) and then the orange has been painted as a background to finish around the outlines of the soldiers.
My angel is done the same way. The picture doesn't look as though it is the same decorator as my angel, it's a bit less 'freehand', but that could be because there is no wear at all on the vase in the Harrach book so it may look 'cleaner/crisper' - but the detail and delicacy of it is similar if you see what I mean (i.e it's more similar in spirit to my angel than anything like for example the transfer printed warrior on my other Etruscan Harrach vase).
The problem is the description - it says this vase is in the Municipal Museum and Library Caslav - inv.no. CHS 47. 'Gifted by Count Johann von Harrach in 1910'. But there is no production number linking it to Harrach.
It then has a description of the vase (as I've part quoted above). Then a new paragraph that simply says
'
As noted by J. Brozova, scenes with Antique Revival figures were probably chosen from books of templates noted in the glassworks' possession already c.1835, see Passau 1995, vol III, ill.no lll 30.I have Passau 1995 Vol lll- the vase in this Harrach books looks nothing like the vase illustrated at there source ill.no lll - and when I translated the description in that book, it doesn't state anything I can see that would describe this vase on plate 213 in the Harrach book.
It merely describes a few pieces as a reference to the Etruscan/classical style vases that were produced for various other companies (and even when describing the jug in that book that the reference is under, it says 'probably decorated by Hoffman' i.e. it's all probably/possibly, talking about the revival of the classical style in decoration, but no definitive production numbers for either that jug or the vase I've just found in the Harrach book.
So my problem is this. I can see that my plate and the vase in the Harrach book are from the same maker without a doubt. I am very sure of that.
I can see that the vase in the Hermitage identified as Russian, has good similarities to my plate, enough to make me feel my plate could be Russian, but not as close as the vase in the Harrach book.
The vase in the Hermitage is id as Russian
and the vase in the Harrach book is not formally id'd except to say given by Count Harrach in 1910 (60 years after it was made). With references to another book that also does not describe or state that vase is Harrach.
and
This apparently Harrach vase doesn't look the same as any other products in the Etruscan style that I've found made by Harrach and doesn't have any design features in common with them.
And...we've been here before with Richardson's donating pieces to Broadfield House that were identified as Richardson pieces, only to discover they weren't Richardson at all.
To add to the confusion, this jug that I linked to here
http://www.auctions-fischer.de/catalogues/online-catalogues/194-russian-art-faberge-icons.html?L=1&kategorie=2&artikel=1963&L=1&cHash=372f9e9d17was identified as Russian by Fischers.
The Harrach book shows a vase in the same design (same colours etc as well) page 182, identified as Harrach but with no production number just a reference to how prolific they featured in the orders of two companies.
So... is it or isn't it? The first vase I referred to in the book and this vase that is like the jug has the same meader pattern as my plate - I feel sure the first vase is the same maker for definite, but is it Russian or is it Bohemian from Harrach?
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Topic: Etruscan design 1850 ish plate with handpainted enamel -angel orange black white (Read 10242 times)
