CHERC for FREDERIC GOLDSCHEIDER (Pilsen, Bohemia, 1845 - Vienna, Austria, 1897). Austria, ca. 1900. Art Nouveau vase. Patinated terracotta. Signed on the front. Stamps and numbering on the reverse. Part of the Goldscheider stamp is missing. Measurements: 61 x 46 x 25 cm. Sculptural vase in a clearly Art Nouveau style, with a structure completely defined by the decoration, showing the anti-classical intention typical of this style. This can also be seen in the naturalistic detail of the modelling work, in the soft polychromy, with undefined, lightened colours, and in the dynamism and asymmetry of the composition. The vase is defined by large, lively-looking leaves, with a sinuous, moving outline, on which we see the figures of a lady and a child, worked in round figures. Despite the basic classicism of the figures, the woman's wavy hair and the natural frame itself speak to us of the concept of the feminine in Art Nouveau, derived from Symbolist literature, which considers women to be indissolubly linked to nature and therefore to share in its mysteries and dangers. Her ethereal beauty is seductive and dangerous, and leads men irremediably to perdition. Cherc was employed at the Goldcheider factory from 1894 to 1914, where many of the models produced at that time bear his signature. In 1885, the sculptor Friedrich Goldscheider left his native Pilsen and settled in Vienna, where he founded his own manufactory of terracotta pieces. He soon became one of the most influential artists in the fields of ceramics and bronze, with shops in Austria, Paris, Leipzig, Berlin and Florence. For more than half a century the Goldscheider firm, considered the finest modernist terracotta factory, created masterpieces of historicism, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The founder was able to attract both acclaimed artists and young innovators to his factory, so that great ceramists of the time, such as W. Bosse, B. Geiger, J. Lorenzl, I. Meisinger and M. Powolny, among others, worked there. After Goldscheider's death, the factory was taken over by his widow Regina, who continued to produce her husband's models, together with new ones created by the artists who worked for the firm, such as D. Chiparus during the Art Deco period. Until its closure with the rise of National Socialism, the factory produced more than four thousand different models, both by Goldscheider himself and by other authors. From the very beginning, the factory won numerous awards, first prizes and gold medals at countless world fairs, exhibitions and trade fairs. Today its pieces are in great demand by collectors all over the world. They can now be admired in museums around the world, such as the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. In 2007, Goldscheider's works were shown at the Vienna Museum and the following year at the LBI in New York.