On a gnarled branch base with grapevines and blue grape clusters, a sitting bird-of-paradise with vibrant feathers and long tail feathers reaching down to the base. The artwork features intense, polychrome glaze painting. Possibly by Arthur Storch, as mentioned in the artist monograph "A St." Minimal restoration or damage. Manufacture mark. Height: 71.5 cm. The model was created in connection with the famous group of 16 monumental animal sculptures by the modelers Hugo Meisel and Arthur Storch, with which the oldest Volkstedt porcelain manufactory was involved in 1921. It caused a great sensation when this "Porcelain Palace" in Leipzig, which was initially used as a trade fair house and was designed under the direction of architect Hans Poelzig, participated. Due to its extraordinary size, the production posed a special technical challenge. Even today, these are considered masterpieces of "artistic and technical craftsmanship" and only a few more than 10 versions per model are estimated to have been produced. See catalog Schwarzburger Werkstätten, p. 272ff; Fritzsche, Aelteste Volkstedter Porzellanmanufaktur, p. 211f; Zimmermann, in Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, vol. 49, 1921-1922, p. 46ff; Porzelland Thüringen, p. 243ff. Provenance: From the estate of a significant North German private collection. A rare monumental Thuringian porcelain figure of a bird-of-paradise, modeled by A. Storch. Minor restoration or chipping. Manufacturer's mark. Thuringia. Volkstedt-Rudolstadt. Aelteste Volkstedter Porzellanfabrik. 1920s.
