Earthy, textured water lily leaf vase, with lily stems as gilted arms terminating in flowers encircling the gold-gilted mouth of the piece. Stamped Ernst Wahliss in the base, and numbered; the design attributed to Paul Dachsel.
Already well established throughout Europe as a retailer of porcelain goods, in 1894 Ernst Wahliss took over production at the Stellmacher factory in Turn-Teplitz and began creating decorative ceramics under the name “Ernst Wahliss Kunst, Porzellan, und Fayence Fabrik.” Before striking out on his own, Paul Dachsel worked there as a designer, creating forms that added new breadth to the Art Nouveau style with modernist forms and experimental glazes.