Earthenware with white glaze and polychrome paint
Austria, 1926
Design: Stephan Dakon (1904-1997) - Austrian sculptor and ceramist
Manufacturer: Friedrich Goldscheider - Austrian terracotta and bronze manufacturer, established in Vienna in 1885
Production: 1926-1941
Black on-glaze mark ‘F.G.’, above ‘Goldscheider’, beneath ‘Wien’ and ‘Made in Austria’, incised numbers 5570/35/4 and ‘M’ (additional mark after 1925)
Expressive female dancer with a scarf on a stepped and square base
Literature: Dechant, Goldscheider, Stuttgart 2007, p. 410
Height: 36 cm
Good restored condition
Rare Art Deco pottery figure with a favorite subject of Dakon, the dancer

Stephan Dakon (1904-1997) is recorded mainly for his designs made for the famous Austrian terracotta and bronze manufacturer Friedrich Goldscheider, who also produced the present earthenware figure. In addition, models of Dakon were used as designs the popular ‘Vienna Bronzes’. Dancers with their extravagant movements were a popular motif of the Art Deco. Dakon designed them with a tremendous wealth of variety in terms of poses and costumes.

The figure is in good condition, showing a restored hairline crack to the right wrist and a small loss of color. The height is 36 cm.

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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