A Fantastic Quality Late 19th Century Berlin K.P.M. Porcelain Rectangular Figural Plaque

$95,000

Finely painted after T. Rosenthal with a ballroom interior scene depicting a fiddler and a young woman dancing together before a group of fashionable ladies.

Entitled “The Dancing Lesson Of Our Grandmother”.

Impressed K.P.M and scepter marks, within the original giltwood frame.

Toby Edward Rosenthal, American (New Haven, Connecticut 1848 – 1917 Munich).

Though born in the eastern United States, Rosenthal moved to San Francisco with his parents as a young boy, where he would come to paint under the tutelage of Fortunato Arriola. In 1865 Rosenthal set off for Europe, studying under Karl Theodor von Piloty at the Royal Academy in Munich. Among his best known works are Morning Prayers in the Family of J.S. Bach, now in the Leipzig museum, and The Trial of Constance Beverly, now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The present subject, The Dancing Lesson of our Grandmother (Eine Tanzstunde unserer Grossmütter) is thought to be painted in 1887.

KPM is an acronym for Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin, which translates to “Royal Porcelain Factory in Berlin.” The company was founded in 1763 by Frederick II of Prussia, who bought the factory from its previous owner, Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, in the wake of its bankruptcy. Frederick II greatly admired the factory’s “white gold,” a type of porcelain so fine and translucent that it closely mirrored the high-quality porcelain made in China. He invested large sums of money into the company and granted it the use of the royal scepter as its emblem. He also commissioned many KPM porcelain objects to be made in the Rococo style for his palace.

Plaque:
Height – 11.5 inches / 29cm
Width – 18.5 inches / 47cm

Frame:
Height – 23.5 inches / 60cm
Width – 30.5 inches / 77cm