627 - Freiberg Miners' Parade, Three Sets of Erzgebirge Figures by Walter Werner Seiffen, Mining Captain

Freiberg Miners' Parade, Three Sets of Erzgebirge Figures by Walter Werner Seiffen, Mining Captain Erzgebirge figures of wood, painted in colour, on round wooden bases, together with three original boxes with a coloured print on the lid Freiberger Bergparade. The box labels are marked WERNER FIGUREN, Made in Germany, 229/2 Historische Bergparade -Unter Tage-, 229/4 Historische Bergparade -Hüttenleute- and 229/50 Historische Bergparade -Ergänzung-. Depicted are miners and smelters in Saxon miners' costume with shaft hat, mining hatchet, flag and torch, in black, grey, blue, yellow and brown uniform coats, among them a flag bearer with a yellow flag with the Saxon coat of arms and a bearer of a blue flag with hammer and chisel. The undersides of the bases with labels WERNER FIGUREN and occupational designations such as Saigerhüttenältester, Schwefelhüttenfactor and Blaufarbenfactor. In addition a rider without packaging: a mining captain with green feathered hat, black coat and white breeches on a carved horse with red caparison and gold-coloured cord, the body of the horse inscribed Berghauptmann. The figures with fresh colouring, the boxes slightly rubbed at the edges. Rider H. 13 cm. The miners' parade goes back to the participation of Saxon miners and smelters in court festivities, documented since the 16th century; in Freiberg the first independent miners' processions arose in the second half of the 17th century. In 1719 some fifteen hundred miners and smelters paraded in the Plauenscher Grund. In 1831 Chief Mining Captain Siegmund August Wolfgang Freiherr von Herder laid down the last historic miners' uniform for Saxony; the costumes of the series follow this standard. In 1983 the Freiberg miners' parade was reconstructed after historic models for the city's eight hundredth anniversary; today the Saxon miners' parades are part of the intangible cultural heritage. The Werner workshop in Kurort Seiffen has been making carved figures on Saxon mining history since 1957; a finished figure requires between one hundred and two hundred and fifty working steps.