Very large Berlin K.P.M. porcelain plaque of Jephthah's daughter

By KPM, this beautiful porcelain plaque depicts the daughter of Jephthah, a young martry from the Hebrew Bible, and takes its composition after a painting by German artist Carl Oesterley.

Crafted in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, the finely painted porcelain plaque is placed within an arch and housed in a beautifully intricate giltwood frame. The plaque depicts the beautiful young martyr - the daughter of the judge Jephthah - sometimes referred to as Seila or Ipsis, accompanied by four weeping daughters of Israel.

The fate of the young martyr is well known and often discussed in theological scholarly circles. Even referred to in Hamlet, her story, told in Judges 11, is that her father promised whatever came out of his house first as a burnt offering to Yahweh, in thanks for a battle won over the Ammonites. In punishment for his rash vow, it was his daughter who came out first, and she solemnly encouraged him to fulfil his vow.

The painting is sensitively and expertly carried out. The pathos and anguish of the female figures superbly conveyed, creating an enduring and captivating image of female piety, devotion, and suffering. The frame in which the plaque is housed is suitably ornate, and particulary beautiful in the recesses either side of the arch. It bears an impressed monogram, the sceptre mark for KPM, and F cypher, incised 25-20.

Frame: height 97cm, width 84cm, depth 8cm
Plaque: height 65cm, width 52cm