The double gourd shape carries a long history reaching back to Chinese ceramic tradition, two stacked spheres of differing size, and Ernst Wahliss's Turn Vienna workshop reworked that inherited form into something distinctly its own here: a neck that curves with an almost serpentine quality before opening into an asymmetric rim, the kind of deliberate imbalance Art Nouveau design favoured over strict, mirrored symmetry. Hand-painted pink and orange flowers cover the body, finished with a matte gold trim rather than the higher-gloss gilding more common on Continental porcelain of the period.
The moulded handle adds another layer of sculptural interest, curving rather than running in a straight structural line, in keeping with the organic, flowing lines that define Art Nouveau across every decorative medium it touched. Made in Austria and dated to the 1900's, the piece sits well within Wahliss's most confident Art Nouveau period, the same stretch of years that produced the workshop's better-known figural and allegorical pieces alongside functional forms like this one.
Condition notes
Excellent antique condition. Small chips around base.
