Limited Edition Box, Seated Chinese man

The wares the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory presented at the various International Exhibitions in Europe and America in the early 20th century were choice items of rare beauty. Six figure models by the Meissen graphic artist, painter and designer Paul Scheurich (1883-1945) were included in the 1937 event held in Paris, for instance, that went on to win awards. He produced a further 30 or so decorative pieces for the Manufactory that year, amongst them a box fitted with a finial in the form of a Chinese man sitting cross-legged with a fan in his hand and seemingly very happy with life. As well as designing vases and other vessels, Scheurich achieved fame most notably in the sphere of porcelain human-figure sculpture and, together with Max Esser, played a seminal role in the Manufactory's further artistic evolution in the 1920s.

The Manufactory is marking the 75th anniversary of the death of Paul Scheurich, one of the greatest 20th-century modellers in porcelain, with a limited-edition re-issue of the above box. The painting on the re-issued piece likewise dates from the period when the box came into being, originally as the tray for a smoking set, and echoes Scheurich's little seated Chinese man in both theme and colour. Porcelain painter Victoria Schmidt executed the drawing with a particularly sharp steel stylus, thus injecting an even greater wealth of intricate detail into the motif. Muted decoration in a single colour is a typical feature of Scheurich's own restrained, clean-lined style and additionally strikes a chord with the aesthetic sensibilities of the period. Victoria Schmidt also had the idea of incorporating a further rather witty detail into her work in that she fashioned the box's base and rim as a cushion. This will allow Scheurich's seated Chinese figure to really make himself at home on Meissen porcelain for many a century to come.