A superb Bavarian porcelain figurine of a silver pheasant modelled by Theodor Kärner for the Rosenthal Porcelain Factory, stamped with the factory’s green underglaze mark, portraying the bird with turned head and long tail feathers sweeping down to the ground behind, standing and supported on a naturalistic stand

Rosenthal, Selb, Bavaria, date circa 1922

Height 70, length 90 cm.

Born on 10^th January 1884 in Bavaria, Germany at Hohenberg on the River Eger, Theodor Kärner (1884-1966) was one of the leading porcelain modellers of his day who worked for a variety of German factories including Rosenthal. It was there that he produced this superb almost life size model of a silver pheasant which is believed to have been the factory’s largest piece. Whilst Kärner specialised in modelling animals, from horses and birds to deer, dogs and elephants, he also portrayed the human figure, especially on horseback. A man of great observation, Kärner studied his subjects at first hand and would undoubtedly have been inspired to model this rare silver pheasant from life, of which the first captive pairs in the west were shown to the public at Leipzig Zoo in 1928. From 1898 up until 1903, Kärner trained as a modeller at the Hutschenreuther porcelain factory in his home town of Hohenberg. He subsequently attended sculpture classes under Professor Heinrich Wadere (1865-1950) and decorative sculpture under Professor Anton Pruska (1846-1930) at the Bavarian Royal Art School in Munich. He furthered his education between 1914 and 1921 by taking occasional day and evening classes with the animal painter Professor Heinrich von Reins (1850-1941) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. From 1905 up until 1918 he worked as a sculptor at the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory in Munich, after which he worked on a freelance basis at the Rosenthal factory in Selb, joining its permanent staff in about 1922 where he continued until 1934. In 1938 he was appointed professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and two years later took part in the Great German Art Exhibition in Munich. Following the war Kärner headed the art department at the Eschenbach porcelain factory in Windischeschenbach; then in 1954 he once more began working for Rosenthal on a free-lance basis. After a long and successful career, he died in Munich on the 6^th September 1966.