Lot 37

BOETTGER STONEWARE FIGURE OF A LARGE EAGLE OWL.
Meissen. 1924-1934. Model E. Hösel 1928.

Böttger stoneware. Life-size figure of a naturalistically modelled eagle owl. The large bird is enthroned on
a geometric pedestal consisting of a sphere embedded in the surface of a truncated pyramid
on a flat plinth. Height 65.5cm.
Pfeiffer mark, embossed stamp 'Böttger Steinzeug' V190, porcelain former no. 23, incised L230.

Provenance:
Personal gift of E. Hösel. By inheritance still in family estate.

Erich Hösel's eagle owl impresses, besides his size, by the detailed, realistic modelling of his plumage, his claws and the austere features of his face. He sits enthroned on a pedestal whose smooth surfaces and straight lines form an attractive contrast to the moving, soft forms of the body. With the help of this contrariness, the modeller succeeds in modelling an extremely exciting sculpture without any dynamic poses or sweeping movements. The geometric contours of the pedestal are increasingly dissolved upwards and merge into an ever stronger naturalism, culminating in the striking facial features of the eagle owl. At first the accurate square of the plinth tapers to the less severe shape of the sphere. Hösel also succeeds impressively in bridging the gap between pure geometric form and owl body by positioning the bird's claws almost unnaturally symmetrically on the sphere. The delicacy of the down of the breast feathers is brought to the point by sparing surface movement. The soft, flat contours stand in stark contrast to the sharp, meticulously modelled facial features of the eagle owl, emphasising them additionally. Hösel follows the same principle when modelling the back, on which the individually stepped, symmetrically arranged tail and wing feathers merge upwards into a softly modelled plumage.In his model, Hösel skillfully plays with the properties of the Böttger stoneware material to model different surface structures. The unglazed, monochrome surface reveals every subtlety of the modelling, giving the eagle owl its almost lifelike character.