Pair of Austrian orientalist terracotta busts by Goldscheider

These antique busts depict two Nubian figures, one male and one female, in contemplative poses with their eyes averted from the viewer, modeled in terracotta with painted draped clothes. They were made at the Goldscheider Manufactory and Majolica Factory, one of the most important ceramics manufacturers in late 19th Century Europe. The models were sculpted by Arthur Strasser, a celebrated Austrian sculptor and professor of art who worked with Friedrich Goldscheider. There is a mark for Friedrich Goldscheider, Vienna on the back of the busts.