Porcelain with white glaze and polychrome paint
Germany, circa 1900
Design by Oskar Erich Hösel (1869-1953) from 1895
Underglaze blue crossed swords mark (pommel period, 1860-1918), incised model number Q 197, impressed number 173 and painter’s number 52 on the underside
Hun riding on a white horse on an oval, profiled naturalistic plinth, strongly bent forward to look at a crowned skull and a broken lance at the feet of his horse; the horse inclined backwards, while slowing down, the head turned to the left
The hun wearing animal skin and fur boots and equipped with a quiver of arrows, a bow and a shield on his back
Overall dimensions: 30 x 31.5 x 12.5 cm
Very good condition, 1st choice
Popular and expressive figural group designed by Erich Hösel, the famous artistic director of the Meissen porcelain manufactory. With his life-size figure of a hun (Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; plaster model at the Dresden Albertinum), Hösel enjoyed a great success in 1895

This expressive porcelain figural group was designed by Erich Hösel (1869-1953) in 1895. From 1903, Hösel was the manager and from 1912 to 1929 the director of the Meissen porcelain manufactory. The figure shows a hun riding on a white horse on a grassy plinth. With force, he reins his horse, bending strongly forward in order to look at a crowned skull and a broken lance in front of him. Clothed with an animal fur and fur boots, he wears a quiver of arrows, a bow and a shield on his back. The huns were a nomadic tribe from Central Asia, who invaded in Central Europa in the 14th and 15th centuries under the leadership of Attila.



The figure shows the underglaze blue crossed swords mark (pommel period, 1860-1918), the incised model number Q 197, the impressed number 173 and the painter’s number 52 on the underside. It is of first choice and in good condition, showing a material loss to the animal fur covering the horseback, as well as nearly invisible chips to one Ear of the Horse and to the Plinth. The reins of wire missing. The overall dimensions are 30 x 31.5 x 12.5 cm.



Meissen

Porcelain was known in Europe since the 13th Century, but always had to be imported from China and was thus mostly of lower quality – the Chinese seldom gave their best ware to foreigners – and extremely expensive. Europeans tried to copy the Chinese porcelain for centuries but only in 1708 managed to create real porcelain – in Meissen. The manufacturer’s brand, the crossed swords in blue, has been in use since 1722 and is still a guarantee for the high quality of the porcelain. Meissen celebrated its 300 years of existence in 2008. Quality has always been the number one criteria for Meissen and they go as far as to have their own mine to win the needed kaolin, also known as china clay, for the production. It takes several years to reach the degree of a “master painter” in Meissen but judging by the quality of the painting, it is definitely worth it.

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