A BERLIN (K.P.M.) PORCELAIN RECTANGULAR PLAQUE, CIRCA 1895

Nathaniel Sichel (1843-1907) was a popular and prolific portraitist, history painter and Orientalist who was particularly noted for his paintings of women in Eastern settings. Whilst he studied in Europe, travelled in the Middle East and gained repute in Paris and Rome he is particularly associated with Berlin. A number of his works are reproduced on K.P.M. plaques. His depiction of the Judith in the moments before she beheads the Assyrian general Holofernes is typical of his depictions of seductive female figures. It portrays the Jewish heroine as powerful and attractive but avoids the overt sexuality or some later depictions and gore and violence of many Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces. Depictions of the same subject by other contemporary artists such as August Riedel were also poplar source for painters of porcelain plaques.