Goldscheider. Vienna, ca. 1900

GOLDSCHEIDER; Vienna, ca. 1900.
"Child fisherman."
Terracotta sculpture.
Bamboo seat.
Signed.
The fishing rod is missing.
Presents wear and lack of polychrome.
Measurements: 141 x 48 x 63 cm.

Monumental sculpture of costumbrista theme signed by the renowned Viennese manufacture Goldscheider. The smiling countenance of African features expresses a spontaneous joy. The fabrics of his clothing have been rendered with singular verism. Originally part of a series of children designed by Haniroff, one of Goldscheider's most valued craftsmen. Here, folklore is combined with a plastic workmanship characteristic of the avant-garde design of the Art Nouveau period.

The Austrian ceramic and porcelain firm Goldscheider was founded in 1885 by the Bohemian sculptor Friedrich Goldscheider. For more than half a century the firm created masterpieces of historicism, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The founder was able to attract both acclaimed artists and young innovators to his factory, so that great ceramists of the time, such as W. Bosse, B. Geiger, J. Lorenzl, I. Meisinger and M. Powolny, among others, worked there. After Goldscheider's death, the factory was taken over by his widow Regina, who continued to produce her husband's models, along with new ones created by artists who worked for the firm, such as D. Chiparus during the Art Deco period. Until its closure with the rise of National Socialism, the factory produced more than four thousand different models, both by Goldscheider himself and other authors. From the beginning, the factory won a multitude of awards, first prizes and gold medals at countless world fairs, exhibitions and trade fairs. Today its pieces are in great demand by collectors from all over the world. They can currently be admired in various museums around the world, such as the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. In 2007, Goldscheider's pieces were exhibited at the Vienna Museum and the following year at the LBI in New York.