Description

History of the Rosenthal factory

Philipp Rosenthal (1855-1937) began business in Germany in 1884. Initially he purchased white ware from the company Hutschenreuther which was resold door to door after being hand-painted by his wife Maria. In 1891, he established a factory in Asch, Bohemia and began production of his own white ware.

Into the twentieth century and a  more affluent Germany emerged with improved living conditions and a disposable income appeared. Rosenthal spotted the unfilled market and started mass scale production of porcelain aimed at the newly emerging market. In only two generations the family firm expanded into a world class player. With a vision for modern art, freelance artists were employed and the interior decoration business began. In 1910 the art department at Selb was founded employing designers such as Himmelstoss, Karner, Oppel, Holzer-Defanti, Liebermann, Cassmann and many others. The same year the factory won the gold medal for it’s quality porcelain at the world fair Paris. Over the decades other factories were acquired in ceramics, glass, utensils and furniture. It’s top quality porcelain is still admired today for the way they captured their subjects movement, form and liveliness.

Eleonore (Lore) Friedrich-Gronau ( 1908 – 2002 )

She studied from 1928 – 1934 at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin and was a master student with Fritz Klimsch.  From 1939  – 1961 she worked as a freelancer for Rosenthal AG and created “porcelain figurines after the living model”. Statuettes were created, such as those by the well-known actress Lilian Harvey as ” Fanny Elßler ” (1937 – 32.5 cm) and by the dancers Hedi Höpfner and Margot Höpfner in the “Kaiserwalzer” (1938), by Ursula Deinert as ” Kasatschok dancer” (1939 – 30.5 cm) and by Daisy Spies in the dance “Adagio”; also the “Frog Queen”, “Snow White” and “The Blue Flower”.