Porcelain figurine "Couple"

German porcelain figurine by Karl Schneider -

Vintage German figurine by Karl Schneider. The amazing expressions on these two figurines show that they share a special moment, as the girl closes her eyes and holds a bouquet of yellow flowers, while the boy seems to be speaking.

17 cm in height x 11 1/2 cm in width, weighing 283 grams. Beautiful, peaceful, and graceful pastel-toned figure of a young couple holding hands. In excellent vintage condition. No chips, cracks, or repairs. Marked with the initials S and GDR and numbered No 13 and 11711. Porzellanfabrik Karl Schneider KG (1906 to 1972). Before successful businessman Karl Schneider founded his new factory, several others had already been opened in this area, such as Weiß, Kühnert & Co. or the company Unger, Schneider & Co. in Grefenthal, as well as the company Leube & Co. in the neighboring Reichmannsdorfe. Even though this area was ideal for such a business, many people thought it had no chance against such competition when it opened its last porcelain factory in Grefenthal or its surroundings in 1906. But everyone who was close to Karl Schneider knew that he did not become such a successful businessman based on foolish decisions, and of course, he carefully chose this area. The location itself was close to the train station, allowing for easy delivery of raw materials and facilitating the company's distribution of its products to distributors throughout Germany. Additionally, the large amount of raw materials needed to supply the entire area lowered the costs of one factory's needs.

2] V.E.B. Porzellanfiguren Grefenthal (1972–1990) After the company was fully nationalized, it was also assigned responsibility for other minor objects according to its location. As the name V.E.B. indicates (Porzellanfiguren means porcelain figurines in German), its main goal was to focus on the figurine market sector, like other combines in its surroundings.In the interests of safety. From the establishment of the new state in 1949 until 1972, many constructions and forms were slowly but surely prohibited in the archives due to the changing market situation. During the period of state ownership, an even larger amount was dumped into the deep basements of the factory simply because the factory needed to focus on simpler items to achieve the planned production volume, as they were much easier to produce and sell. Even if the produced works still had some of their old charm and belonged to their own class, the sharp overall decline is too obvious, which can also be seen in many other state objects during this period.

Shortly before November 9, 1989 (fall of the Berlin Wall), the working conditions in Grefental quickly deteriorated. Some of the workforce saw that the end of the state was finally coming, while others simply opposed it, believing that the entire situation was a propaganda plan aimed at undermining the socialist moral spirit. Noticing the growing pressure, including the possibility of fights between workers, the factory directors made the only reasonable decision and ordered the closure of the factory and sent people home until the situation cooled down.