Gera Figurine

This is a rare figurine made by Gera around 1780. Gera was founded in 1750 as a faience factory but in 1779 they obtained the rights to make porcelain as well. Ownership changed a lot in the next 25 years until some stability was achieved. Gera unlike Gotha did make figurines. Some are of inferior quality and few (like this one) are quite nice. This figurine is of a charcoal maker (probably representing winter) and is most likely part of a four seasons group. He is well modeled and painted in the typical Gera manner. This figurine is in good condition with a chip to the hat, chips to the knife on his side and the piece in his right hand is just a stub but I am unsure if this is a flaw as the one in the books has the same stub. The piece is marked with the underglaze blue G mark as well as a museum ID number. It is 5.875 inches tall, 1.375 inches wide and 2.5 inches deep. Please e-mail me for more information or photos.

Now to the very interesting end to me owning this piece: I was recently contacted by A Dr. Olaf Thormann from the GRASSI Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Leipzig , Germany. He informed me that this figurine was bought by the museum in 1906 and was stolen at the end of WWII under unexplained circumstances. He provided all the documentation as well as pictures of this figurine and the ID number, etc. So now the figurine is back home in its proper place. Amazing and scary how a piece can end up so far away from home and be found again! A rare moment in porcelain history where we can actually fill in some blanks of where this piece has been and makes you wonder about all the other pieces floating around and their stories!