Ornamental vase - With a bird perched on a flowering branch

The ball-shaped body sands on a short, round foot it has a broad, cylindrical, high neck and a splaying top rim. The ceramic painting runs around the whole surface: the main motif is a black, crested bird sitting on a bough with berries, surmounted by flowery, berried twigs. On the back, there is grass, a magnolia flower, and two flying, giant dragon-flies. The light, loose composition suggests not only Japanese models but also an interest and love for nature. The colours are restricted because of the high firing but there are plenty of shades. The motifs are presented in white, black and mangane brown against the light grey, pastel base their intensity depends on the thickness of the clay paste. The yellow colour is represented by the clay- base left unpainted. This artistic decoration perfected in the Laurin manufacture was later called "Laurin-process". F. (sic!) Laurin's vases with bird motifs were fairly successful at the 1873 Viennese World Exhibition (see Friedrich Jaennicke: Grundriss der Keramik. Stuttgart, 1879 p.845). A similar piece can be found in the Berlin Kunstgewerbemuseum (see Mundt 1981 p. 199, pict.195).