Porcelain with white glaze and polychrome paint
Austria, circa 1930
Design: Stephan Dakon (1904-1997) - Austrian sculptor and ceramist
Produced by Friedrich Goldscheider – Austrian pottery and bronze manufacturer, established in 1885 in Vienna
Black Golscheider mark (1920-1953)/ ‘Hand-Decorated’/ ‘Made in Austria’; numbered 5864/119/6 and 20
Female Art Deco dancer in a harlequin costume with three masks
Height: 42 cm
Very good condition
Rare Goldscheider porcelain figurine with appealing silhouette in a typical exalted posture

The present porcelain figurine was designed by Stephan Dakon (1904-1997) and produced by Goldscheider. The figure is depicted as a female dancer, dressed in a Harlequin costume, wearing a hat and three masks. She stands on tiptoes on an octagonal and profiled base, her right hand supported gallantly in the back. The artificial and exalted posture, which is characterizes the mask dancer, is typical of the Art Deco style.

The figure holds the black Goldscheider mark (1920-1953)/ ‘Hand-Decorated’/ ‘Made in Austria’ and the numbers 5864/119/6 and 20 on the underside. It is in very good condition, showing light craquelure affecting the glaze commensurate with age. The figure is 42 cm in height.

Stephan Dakon (1904-1992)

After attending a school of sculpture and training at the art foundry in Vienna, Dakon worked at the Vienna manufactory of Friedrich Goldscheider since 1924, for which he produced numerous designs. Until the mid-1950s, he became one of the most important and creative designers of the manufactory. His favorite subjects were dancers, actresses, wall masks and children depictions. Dakon also produced designs for the Vienna ceramics company Keramos as well as for Goebel/Oeslau and Hertwig/Katzhütte. Today, works of Dakon are part of numerous private collections as well as the Vienna Museum.



Friedrich Goldscheider (1845-1897)

Friedrich Goldscheider is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the history of European ceramics. He founded his manufactory in Vienna under the name ‘Manufaktur Friedrich Goldscheider’ in 1885. His pieces matched the spirit of the time around 1900 – and particularly in the 1920s. His pieces were well known internationally; they were made of faience, terracotta, bronze and alabaster and represented historicist, art nouveau, art deco and orientalist styles. The Goldscheider family emigrated to England and to the US in 1938 and started new ceramic manufactories there. Friedrich’s son, Walter Goldscheider, only returned to Vienna in 1950. He had to shut down the manufactory for economic reasons. He sold the Goldscheider licenses to a German company called ‘Carstens’. In 1987, Friedrich’s grandchild Peter Goldscheider restarted the family business in Stoob/Austria until 1994. (cko)

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