Large Viennese gilt porcelain vase: 'Entry of Charles V into Antwerp'

This magnificent, beautiful, and large ornamental vase was made in Vienna c.1910 and painted by skilled artist Franz Dörfl, taking for his subject an important Royal portrait by the Austrian artist Hans Makart of 1878.

It consists of an elaborately gilt porcelain vase mounted on a large base, all painted with a rich, cobalt-blue dark ground, with a pair of small, figurative medallions depicting women in springtime landscapes on either side of the base, with a large figurative painting fully encircling the baluster vase's main body. The vase is decorated with alternating bands of thick and narrow gilt edging, with foliate and floral tendrils, acanthus leaves, and a variety of palmettes, rosettes and geometric lattices with rhombi in a series of concentric circular bands, particularly around the neck. It features a similarly intricate and ornate cover with a gilded pine cone finial. The gilding is immaculate and of exceptional precision throughout.

The main painted panel depicts a scene that took place in1520 of the young emperor Charles V entering Antwerp on horseback. The composition and subject is taken from a monumental history painting by leading Austrian artist of the 19th century, Hans Makart (1840-1844), in turn based upon notes by German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, who in fact appears in the panel under the lefthand garland. The emperor points with his right hand to a group of women which include the Klinkosch sisters, models and members of the aristocracy, while other figures depicted included the German actress Charlotte Wolter (1834-1897) - these figures appeared in Makart's original.

The female figures are pained with effusive, expressive and lighter tones, while the male figures are generally painted with much darker colours. The work is executed with meticulous skill and detail: the bustling street setting faithfully rendered, with the silhouette of the city, the military parade, and the expressions of the figures being of particular interest. The original painting is in the collection of the Hamburger Kunsthalle and was acclaimed at the time of its creation. The vase, signed F. Dörfl on the stone base in the scene, and marked FD, Wien, Austria on the foot, is the work of a similarly decorated and celebrated artist, (Dörfl)  who received numorous awards for his work in his lifetime, and was exhibited at many an international fair as a representative of the decorative and artistic prowess of early 20th century Viennese porcelain makers.