What stood in the glass auction case in front of me was apparently someone’s collection. The porcelain figures were clean, and didn’t seem to have a scratch or nick on them.
They appeared to be Victorian women of nobility in different poses – standing pointe as a ballerina, sitting on a bench, dancing alone, showing off their voluminous skirts. There were about 30 of them there in the case.
What struck me was the delicate porcelain lace of their clothing. “They were popular during the 1930s,” the auction house’s co-owner told me.
The dresses were pastel in color, soft pinks and blues and creams and yellows. The figurines seemed too fragile to handle. But I did, because I wanted to closely examine the construction of the lace. And I wondered how it was processed.
The lace that made the figurines lovely and dainty also made them easy to chip. One of the auctioneers noted that practically all of them were missing tiny pieces of lace, which I learned later was common. The auction bid sheet repeated the words “section of lace loss” on several of them. Others had broken fingers or repaired bodies.
They were described on the bid sheet as German porcelain and lace dress figures. Some were marked Volkstedt and Alka Kunst (Alka-Kunst Alboth & Kaiser), which were among the major manufacturers of these figurines.
In Googling later, I found many of them referred to as Dresden lace figurines, named for the German city around where they were created. I also found that others were made in Meissen and Volkstedt. One website noted that the three names can be used interchangeably for the porcelain made in one area of southeastern Germany.
The outfits were made by dipping real cotton lace into porcelain and fired. When the fabric burned away, the porcelain lace remained and was then applied to the figures by hand.
Like the ones at the auction, the female figurines were made as singles or groupings with other women or with men. The most popular, according to one website, were the crinoline groups of women dancing or playing musical instruments. Volkstedt’s ballerinas were among the most famous, according to the site, which said the company began making lace figurines in the mid-19th century.
Over the years, the technique was adopted by artisans in other countries, including Ireland. I saw several Irish lace figurines for sale on the web.
The figurines at the auction sold for prices ranging from $90 to $350. I found them selling quite well on eBay, from $6 to nearly $600.
They apparently are very collectible.
