You know the old saying, "when it rains it pours," right..?
I recently posted an early Deco falcon by Hutschenreuther and now this unusual dragon/chimera figurine by the same company, also 1920's vintage. Most often it's fairly easy to research a piece of porcelain, especially those with maker marks and/or a model number. Certainly we all enjoy knowing the artist's name and background, the initial production date and proper title of our figures. This is the second Hutschenreuther example where I drew a complete blank, used every search-method I could think of but, nada ...
What I can tell you about the piece is that it's loosely based on the figure of a mythological Japanese beast, a "Kirin." However, in this depiction we can see a heavy European influence in the shape of the chimera, more of a dragon that westerners are familiar with. A small delicate unit at less than 5 3/4 inches tall, it has a good amount of detail and the pose seems to suspend the monster in mid-air. The clean, hard lines of the tiered column set up a fine, unassuming base for the powerful flow and line of the scale-covered, horned beastie. For those who might remember, it could be a creature right out of an early Ray Harryhausen movie ...
Something out of the ordinary which I hope you'll enjoy.
Best!
Bill
