621 - Three Erzgebirge Figures of Wood, Painted in Colour, Schumann & Wagner Grünhainichen

Three Erzgebirge Figures of Wood, Painted in Colour, Schumann & Wagner Grünhainichen Three carved figures of wood, painted in colour, each on a round, untreated wooden base. 1) Woman in a grey dress with black shoulder pelerine and black bonnet, holding an open white sheet of music in both hands. 2) Man in a black suit with a broad-brimmed black hat, red neckerchief and walking stick, a rolled-up bundle on his back. 3) Girl with a blue pinafore and a black boot over her shoulder. Two figures with a maker's label on the underside of the base, one round and blue, one oval and green with the lettering Schumann & Wagner; one base with the adhesive residue of a maker's label. Good condition commensurate with age. H. max. 7.5 cm. The Schumann & Wagner workshop in Grünhainichen is one of the traditional firms of Erzgebirge wooden art. The Museum für Sächsische Volkskunst in Dresden holds works by the company in its collection and dates comparable musician figures to around 1960; in 1972 the business was absorbed into VEB Gehäusebau Grünhainichen. The range extended from many-piece angel bands through musicians and flower children to genre figures from everyday life, among which the journeyman on his travels is one of the best known: it shows the wandering craftsman in his guild dress, as he was to be seen on country roads into the 20th century.