Kpm Berlin – Kneeling Young Turkish Woman From Adolph Amberg’s *wedding Procession*, 1921

KPM Berlin – Kneeling Young Turkish Woman from Adolph Amberg’s *Wedding Procession*, 1921 

KPM Berlin – Kneeling Turkish Woman from Adolph Amberg’s Wedding Procession, 1921

Rare porcelain figure of a “Kneeling Turkish Woman” from Adolph Amberg’s celebrated Wedding Procession (Hochzeitszug).

Design: Adolph Amberg (Hanau 1874 – Berlin 1913), 1910
Execution: KPM Berlin, Germany 1921
Material: porcelain, polychrome decoration in delicate pastel colours under the glaze
Height: 18 cm / approx. 7.1 in.
Low-base version

The kneeling young woman presents a bowl of flowers or fruit. Her elegant flowing silhouette, exotic-inspired costume and restrained colouring are characteristic of Amberg’s Wedding Procession and of the artistic renewal of KPM Berlin under Theo Schmuz-Baudiss.

Marks: Underglaze-blue sceptre mark, blue KPM orb mark, year mark for 1921, further impressed marks and painter’s numbers.

The Wedding Procession:
Adolph Amberg originally conceived this monumental table centrepiece in 1904/05 in connection with the marriage of German Crown Prince Wilhelm and Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Its remarkably modern conception was initially not executed. KPM later acquired the design under the artistic direction of Theo Schmuz-Baudiss and produced the ensemble in porcelain.

The complete Wedding Procession consists of 20 figures, including two double figures, together with two girandoles, a jardinière and three circular pedestal bowls. The figures were also available individually and were produced in different decorative versions.

The present Turkish Woman is the particularly elegant low-base version. Its delicate pastel underglaze decoration complements the flowing and almost weightless quality of Amberg’s modelling.

Condition: Very good condition.

Literature:
Irene von Treskow, Die Jugendstil-Porzellane der KPM, Munich, 1971.
Bröhan-Museum, Berliner Porzellan vom Jugendstil zum Funktionalismus 1889–1939, Berlin, 1987, p. 125.
Margarete Jarchow, Berliner Porzellan im 20. Jahrhundert, Hamburg, 1988.
Karl H. Bröhan, Porzellan. Kunst und Design 1889 bis 1939, Berlin, 1993.
Tobias Hoffmann / Claudia Kanowski (eds.), Lust auf Dekor – KPM-Porzellan zwischen Jugendstil und Art Deco, Cologne, 2013.

Viewing by appointment at Denes Szy, Kunsthandel, Königsallee 27–31, Düsseldorf. Further KPM Berlin porcelain and figures from Amberg’s Wedding Procession are available from our collection and on our website.