Two Volute Craters in Antique Style

Terracotta manufactory L. Hjorth, Rønne (Bornholm)/Denmark. Around 1865/70. Burnt red clay, lacquer painting in black, a little white and red. H. 38,5 cm, w. 18 cm. Stamped under the foot: L. Hjorth, model no. 56. Two counterparts of the same shape, with black-figure depictions on the fronts: a) Zeus as an eagle with Ganymede and Cupid; b) Two spinning Erotes. The decorative motifs are a meander band and palmette ornament. - The craters are a hybrid of a Lower Italic Apulian volute crater and an amphora from the 4th century BC and show that the manufacturers of ‘antique vessels’ in the 19th century were less interested in copies of specific models than in aesthetically effective creations in the style of antiquity. - Exhibition: The craters were on display in the exhib. High Art between Biedermeier and Art Nouveau: Historicism in Hamburg and Northern Germany. Museum of Arts and Crafts, Hamburg, 1977 - Literature: Exhibition Catalogue:High Art between Biedermeier and Art Nouveau: Historicism in Hamburg and Northern Germany. MKG Hamburg, 1977, page 227/228, catalogue no. 383 with figure