Vintage Meissen Porcelain Golden Oriole Pirol Bird Figurine – Hand Painted Applied Florals, Tree Stump Base, Crossed Swords Mark, Germany
A large Meissen porcelain Golden Oriole — Pirol in German — perched on a hand-modeled tree-stump base ringed with applied porcelain blossoms and leaves. The bird is the European Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus) in its full breeding plumage: brilliant chrome yellow over the breast, head, and rump; deep black wings with each feather individually edged in yellow; sharp red-orange beak; jet-black eye-mask around a glass-painted red iris; black scaled claws gripping the stump. The base is left unglazed white porcelain in the form of a gnarled tree trunk, with hand-applied leaves spreading from the upper branches and a cluster of applied violets and yellow blossoms gathered around the foot.
Meissen — Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH — was founded in 1710 in the town of Meissen, Saxony, as the first European hard-paste porcelain factory after the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger, working under Augustus the Strong of Saxony, finally cracked the Chinese porcelain formula that had eluded Europe for two centuries. The blue underglaze crossed swords mark, registered in 1722 and drawn from the Saxon electors' coat of arms, is the oldest continuously used porcelain trade mark in the world.
The mark on the base of this figurine reads as plain crossed swords without dot, star, or date code, and shows no cancellation strikes — placing it as a first-quality (A-Auswahl) example from the 1815–1924 plain-swords window or the twentieth-century GDR-era / post-reunification production windows that share the same mark style. Based on the vivid enamel palette, glaze brightness, and modeling style, the piece is attributed to twentieth-century production (circa 1920s–1980s), rather than the nineteenth-century antique window.
The Pirol model belongs to Meissen's ornithological series originated by master modeler Johann Joachim Kändler (1706–1775) — the sculptor responsible for the firm's foundational bird, animal, and commedia dell'arte figures — and has remained in continuous production through the firm's three-century run. This is the larger ~11" size, scarcer than the standard 6–8" versions and commanding a meaningful auction premium.
On the craftsmanship. The piece is hand-modeled solid hard-paste porcelain. Each wing feather is individually sculpted in low relief and painted before final firing. The applied (Belege) leaves and the violets-and-yellow-blossom cluster at the base are each modeled, fired, then attached by slip and re-fired — a labour-intensive Meissen signature with a low survival rate (the leaf tips are the most fragile points on the entire piece). The bird's eye is a glass-painted red iris with a white highlight dot inside the black mask, giving the figurine its life-like alertness.
A figurine for the Meissen collector, for the European porcelain cabinet (sitting alongside Sèvres, Royal Copenhagen, or Royal Worcester bird models), for the ornithological / naturkunde figurine collector, for the high-end bird-themed display, or as a serious milestone gift — wedding, retirement, important anniversary.
Details
- Type
- Large Porcelain Bird Figurine
- Maker
- Meissen (Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur), Saxony, Germany
- Era
- Attributed circa 1920s–1980s (plain crossed-swords mark window — 20th-century production)
- Subject
- Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus) — Pirol (German) — Meissen ornithological series originated by J. J. Kändler
- Modeling
- Hand-modeled solid hard-paste porcelain; individually sculpted wing feathers; hand-applied leaves and applied violet + yellow blossom cluster on the tree-stump base; firing vent at base centre
- Painting
- Hand-painted underglaze and overglaze enamels — chrome yellow body, black wings with individual yellow feather-edging, red-orange beak, glass-painted red iris with black mask, scaled black claws
- Size
- ~10.5–11" / 27–28 cm tall; base ~3.5" / 9 cm dia
- Material
- Meissen hard-paste porcelain (white body, polychrome enamels, glazed and unglazed surfaces)
- Markings
- Blue underglaze crossed swords (plain, no modifiers, no cancellation strikes — A-Auswahl first quality); painter / Bossierer notation in blue at upper base; incised model number at base (partially legible)
Condition
Very good vintage condition. Bird modeling fully intact, all wing feathers crisp, glass-painted eye bright. The fragile applied leaves and the applied blossom-cluster at the base are present and in good condition with no missing tips on the visible elements (please review all base-detail photos as part of the condition record — the applied work is the most vulnerable area on any Meissen figurine of this style). No chips, no cracks, no hairlines, no restoration. Felt-pad protectors have been applied to the base by a previous owner — easily removed if preferred.
Backstamp & Pattern
- Maker
- Meissen (Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur), Saxony, Germany
- Era
- Attributed circa 1920s–1980s (plain crossed-swords mark window — 20th-century production)
- Mark on base
- Blue underglaze crossed swords (plain, no modifiers, no cancellation strikes — A-Auswahl first quality); painter / Bossierer notation in blue at upper base; incised model number at base (partially legible)
Meissen's crossed swords, painted in underglaze blue since the 1720s; an uncancelled mark means first quality, and an export word such as “Germany” helps date it (c. 1891–1918).
Read the full backstamp & pattern guide →
