Animals

At the beginning of the 20th century, Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg acquired an international reputation for the production of its animal figures. Nymphenburg defined its unmistakable style through such artists as Theodor Kärner, Josef Wackerle, August Göhring and Luise Terletzki-Scherf: "There had been many porcelain animals before, but those from Nymphenburg were different. And this unique character which demonstrates great trueness to nature and a most assured feeling for balanced style is underlined by a highly sophisticated magnificence of colour which seeks its equal on hard porcelain."ⁱ

The technique of underglaze painting where the colours are applied by brush or airspray in thin layers to the unglazed porcelain before the second firing is, thanks to its gentle and understated shades and flowing transitions, highly suited for reproducing animal fur and feathers. Such a wide and finely structured range of colour pigments which are sufficiently heat resistant for use in underglaze painting can only be found at Nymphenburg. The manufactory's repertoire of shapes today includes around 700 animal figures.

ⁱ Jaffé 1914, p. 254-25