1950s Fischer & Mieg Pirkenhammer Ruby Red Porcelain Sauce Boats With Gilt Bacchus Handles — Matched Pair

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Description

….Two things make a great antique: a great maker and a great survival story. This pair has both.
We found … Read more ….Two things make a great antique: a great maker and a great survival story. This pair has both.
We found these on a winter trip to Paris — the kind of trip that reminds you why you make the trip. Good friends, gorgeous food, and the particular pleasure of wandering into the right shop at the right moment. These were the loot. We knew immediately.
Fischer & Mieg operated out of Pirkenhammer in Bohemia — one of the most respected porcelain factories in Central Europe, founded in 1803 and long favored by the Parisian luxury trade for work that rivaled Sèvres in quality while remaining more accessible in price. That these ended up in Paris is no surprise; Pirkenhammer supplied the French luxury market for generations, and the best pieces filtered naturally toward the best city.
The glaze is the first thing you notice — a deep, saturated ruby red produced by suspending actual gold particles in the glaze chemistry and firing at temperatures precise enough to transform them into this color. Get it slightly wrong and you get brown. Get it right and you get this: a red that seems lit from within, shifting as the light changes like a garnet held up to a window. It is not a common glaze. It is not an easy one. Pirkenhammer pulled it off twice, identically, on both pieces.
The Bacchus handle is pure Empire bravado — the Roman god of wine rendered in high-relief gilt, his beard and hair styled as trailing leaves. One side of each boat carries flowing gold filigree; the reverse, a crisp spear-and-line border. The integrated oval under plate completes the architectural silhouette that defines the best Empire tableware design.
Both pieces are mint. No chips. No hairlines. No gilding loss. For objects well over a century old — objects that were made to be used on dining tables — this is genuinely remarkable. Finding one in this condition is lucky. Finding a matched pair in Paris on a winter break, over a very good lunch, is something else entirely.
On provenance: The Fischer & Mieg / Pirkenhammer mark is confirmed on the base. The factory operated from 1803 to 1941, with this Empire Revival period dating firmly to 1900–1909. Acquired in Paris, consistent with Pirkenhammer's well-documented supply relationship with the French luxury market.

SPECS:

Maker: Fischer & Mieg, Pirkenhammer
Origin: Bohemia (acquired in Paris)
Period: 1900–1909
Style: French Empire
Condition: Mint
Dimensions: 10"W × 6"D × 8"H (each) See less