Dear Imperial Aficionados,

Since things have been a bit slow as of late, I'd like to offer this humble contribution to my own forum and even humbler apologies for not being able to tell you all something about my new Hussar Pelzmütze, but alas .... no dice!

I do offer a lovely imperial porcelain of an "Amsel," or blackbird, by one of my favorite German sculptors, Professor Theodor Kärner. Though this piece was originally sculpted and cast at the Bavarian factory in 1914, though, I believe my example to be from the 1920's due to the painter's initials. The animals that Herr Kärner produced for Nymphenburg were some of the finest "Tierbilder" (animal-pictures or renderings) that were produced worldwide at the turn-of-the-century. (no wonder Himmler scarfed him right up, eh? heh ...)

So here we have porcelain renderings that rival Allach in quality, and then before that Meissen, which goes back to Friederich der Grosse. Talk about practice makes perfect ..?
(Meissen was the first European company to perfect the production of porcelain that was equal to that of the Chinese masters.

Hope this might inspire some of you Allach collectors to check out some more of the great German porcelain sculptors of the 20th century, they were some very talented people.

Best regards to all of our collectors!

Bill Warda

Hi Bill,

Another fabulous catch for your excellent collection. I swear it looks like it's going to fly way or take a dump right before my eyes! It's so life like. Only the best, excellent quality and craftmanship. Also, we can't forget the artistic expertise of master painters that did this sort of thing. They have been for the most part forgotten, but their work lives on.

I can't state this enough, your photog skills
are excellent.

Come on Bill, send it to me for close up and personal authentication. It may take a few years for me to authenticate it, but it will be protected and safe.

Extremely nice peice. My overall favorit Allach piece is "The Raven". Have you ever seen it?

Mark

M&M,

Thanks for your kind words of encouragement. Coming from either of you gentlemen makes it all the better.

Mike - you're right on in regards to the painters, they'll be all but forgotten to us except for a set of initials or a monogram on some fine piece of porcelain. I'm figuring that when a painter was allowed to identify his work in this manner, he/she must have been pretty high up in the pecking-order, would you agree?
From time to time I've noticed that "dud" paint-jobs did occur, too.

Mark - As soon as this one has chicks I'll send one of the fledgelings straight off to you.. I'm not sure I've seen the Allach Rabe..? Could you pop a photo of it in here,
please? I'd surely like to take a look. Now I remember it, the one with the heavy monster-beak. A bird like that could smash a garden snail in half for a tasty meal with no problem whatsoever. Allach has an absolutely wonderful repertoire of bird figures, really beautiful stuff.

Bill

Hey Bill..

Dennis has a beautiful multi angle view of Der Rabe on his site www.allachporcelain.com

It is the first pic to the left on his home page and in his 'bird section' he shows it from a couple of views. That one is in Viet Nam. I stupidly did not take it when it was offered to me. I do have 'The Blackbird' tho, and it is beautiful. You can see it in the backround just to the right of the Nurnburg party vase. I just got the Maus (Mouse) from an e-bay seller and will be posting it soon.

Mark

Mark,

Yes, now I remember the Allach Rabe .. I think a bit less robust than the one I was thinking of..? The one that I like was also an early Kärner rendering of a raven, a fat stout bird. I'll see if I can scan it later and post it here...

Your Rohring Amsel is almost a dead-ringer for the Kärner piece above. The lines, weight and tail are quite nearly identical. I've never had a chance to check out any of the Allach birds first-hand and am looking forward to seeing some at this years MAX Show.

I'd really like to add the Allach lizard to my collection someday, have any of you gents seen one for sale or own one?

Ciao for now!

Bill

That's nice! You need birdseed for that one!

Regards, Joe

Joe,

Ha, cracked me up... will you please sell some of those damn pins and medals and invest in some art..?


W~

Ps that's the "minor-minor arts ..."

But I got one of them white squirrels.
Family thought I was nutty for that.

--dj--Joe

I got a nice Allach Mouse off e-bay...pretty 'cheesy' huh? It will be here tomorrow.

Bill, I have searched long and hard for that lizard. If there is one out there, I'm sure it will be a fluke if we get it.

Mark

Willi,

a very nice "Amsel". Allways nice to see these pieces of Prof. Kärner. He must have been a great artist in his time. Kolibri

Here's one of my favorite pieces. It was produced by Nymphenburg and signed by T. Karner. Amazing detail. Not sure if it is pre or post Third Reich. Opinions?

Bill, how have you been? Been awhile..

Mike Wipf

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Painter's initials..

Here he is with some of his pals from Allach..

Meissen terra-cotta squirrel.

And you thought Allach had the only one..

another view

base

Dear Mike,

That's a beautiful Nymphenburg Schäferhund, easy to see how this form evolved into the great example that he put together for Allach a bit later on. The major difference between the two is the positioning of the animal's forelegs.
The soft, pastel-like colors are really nice on your example, too. I believe yours to be a
pre-'45 model.

I really like the group shot of him with your Amsel, bear and maiden - pretty as a picture!

And a great Art Deco Meissen squirrel made out of Böttger Steinzeug, a extra treat to see.
I have my own ceramic-stone Deco example of a small rabbit or hare, only about a third of the size of your fine squirrel.

Thanks for posting the nice shots, hope you'll find and share more with us.

Hummingbird - I agree the old man was one of the best in his field. But that doesn't mean there weren't others who were just as good - plenty in fact! I just think he was slightly more consistent than almost all the other greats.

Let's see if I can find that "wily-Wabbit.."

Best!

Bill

Here's a little beauty by Hutschenreuther, I believe was produced for export in the 1920s.