Dölker School Sculptural Ceramic Donkey Bookends from Cas Vietri Solimene, 1940s, Set of 2

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Measurements:
height: 16.5 - 15.5 cm; width: 13 - 12.5 cm; depth: 9 cm; total weight of the pair: 1.212 … Read more Measurements:
height: 16.5 - 15.5 cm; width: 13 - 12.5 cm; depth: 9 cm; total weight of the pair: 1.212 kg

a wonderful pair of vitrified glazed ceramic bookends, entirely hand-molded and decorated, depicting a pair of donkeys. Made around the mid-20th century, both are signed "c.a.s. Vietri italy" under their respective bases. This refined pair of mirror-like majolica ceramic bookends represents an excellent example of 20th-century campanian clay sculpture, produced by the renowned c.a.s. Vietri (ceramica artistica solimene) factory in vietri sul mare. The piece is entirely hand-molded and brush-decorated under a glossy glaze, a traditional technique that imparts an extraordinary brilliance to the surfaces and preserves their color palette over time. The sculptural composition features the iconic campanian donkey, modeled in the round with a dynamic and proud prancing posture, resting on an l-shaped structure covered in a rich, archaic tin-white enamel. The front of the bookends is embellished with a rigorous, fan-shaped geometric texture, highlighted by a deep manganese brown color on a yellow ochre background. Stylistically, the pieces are a superb workshop reproduction by cas, executed from the original drawings of the prolific "german period" in vietri. The criteria for this formal attribution are based on the animals' physical features: the large, geometric eyes framed by sunburst eyelashes hark back to the stylistic signature of painter irene kowaliska, while the crown of polychrome flowers and the sculptural modeling of the mane recall the fairy-tale and primitivist motifs introduced by the master richard dölker.
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