CIRCA 1880, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK, PRESSNUMMER 148 AND INCISED MODEL NO. 135 b

The delicate decoration on this clock, using hand-tooled white slip, was known as pâte-sur-pâte. It was first successfully produced at Meissen in 1878 under the direction of the chemist Dr. Julius Heintze. In 1880 Ludwig Sturm, the new head of the painting department, became the overseer of production. Sturm encouraged a more 'lively and spirited' approach to classicism and his influence is credited with greatly furthering this area of production. In this case the design, which includes putti, grotteschi and arabesques was conceived to compliment the neoclassically inspired form of the clock case. See Bernard Bumpus, Pâte-sur-Pâte, The Art of Ceramic Relief Decoration, 1849-1992, London, 1992, pp. 179-189, for further discussion of this type of decoration on Meissen porcelain.