Basket weave porcelain took its name literally, a moulded surface texture meant to mimic actual woven wicker, and German factories used it through the 1800's as a base for exactly the kind of dense floral application seen on this piece: pink and yellow roses worked in relief across the body, with sprawling vines and leaves filling the space between them rather than sitting as isolated, tidy sprigs. The gadrooned borders, a repeated ribbed or fluted edge detail, add a bit of formal structure against the more organic, overgrown quality of the floral work itself.
Two cherubs sit on opposing sides of the vase, a common enough addition to German centrepiece porcelain of the period, though the pairing with a basket weave ground rather than a smoother classical body gives this piece a slightly more rustic, garden-like character than the more formal cherub-and-urn combinations typical of the century. Raised on a pedestal foot, the vase reads clearly as a centrepiece rather than a functional flower vase, built to hold visual attention on its own rather than to be filled and used.
Marked to base with blue S mark with impressed number 264.
Condition notes
Excellent condition. Some wear to gilt; tiny nibbles to foliage.
