1970s Vintage Mottahedeh Reproduction, 18th Century Chinese Export Porcelain Dog Figurines - A Pair

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Title: 1970s Vintage Reproduction 18th Century Chinese Export Porcelain Dog Figurine by Mottahedeh - a Pair.
Manufacturer: Mottahedeh.
Period: 1970s.
… Read more Title: 1970s Vintage Reproduction 18th Century Chinese Export Porcelain Dog Figurine by Mottahedeh - a Pair.
Manufacturer: Mottahedeh.
Period: 1970s.
Place: Italy.

Description: Offered is a fine pair of vintage reproduction Chinese export figurines, two dogs, after an 18th century figure acquired by Mildred and Rafi Mottahedeh for their private collection. The opposing seated porcelain dogs are beautifully hand decorated and feature gilt decoration over shades of brown hair, an orange collar accented by tassels and black eyes highlighted with a pale blue center, over a white ground. Each piece is stamped "LOWESTOFT REPRODUCTION CREATED BY MOTTAHEDEH" and labeled "A Mottahedeh Design".

Measures: 7 W x 4 D x 9.75 H inches each.
Weight: 1 pound, 8 ounces each.

Brief Mottahedeh Bio:
Post WWII, great quantities of porcelain passed through the hands of Mildred and Rafi Mottahedeh as many European families put their collections of porcelain on the market. It was the Chinese export porcelain that they kept, every winnowing out less interesting pieces and adding pieces that reflected their interests: animal figures, religious subjects, and subjects that went back and forth between East Asia and Europe.

By the late fifties, they had begun to make reproductions from their own collections. They scoured Europe, East Asia and South Asia looking for craft traditions still capable of reproducing the porcelain and other accessories from the 18th century. Not surprisingly, Mottahedeh offered the most faithful as well as the most interesting reproductions. By the sixties and early seventies the family firm became one of the most important sources for museum reproductions.

Mildred and Rafi Mottahedeh were learned collectors, manufacturers of faithful reproductions, and dealers who had gained a fingertip feel for their subject from the great variety of antiquities they bought and sold. These separate roles gave them a certain perspective on what they did. They believed that the universal need to eat was transformed by the arts of the table which could make eating enjoyable to the eyes and other senses. They also believed that, by reviving the best of the past through collecting and reproduction, they fostered the dialog between contemporary design and the past. In this last endeavor they were totally successful, as the great respect for both their collections and their reproductions shows.

Building on the best of the past, the legacy of Mottahedeh pieces, such as these opposing dogs in the manner of Lowestoft, assures upcoming generations the possibility of owning finely crafted high-fire porcelains, in beautiful patterns, of historic note and provenance. See less