Bisque "Mergirl"- Hertwig & Co, Germany, 1932 -marked & numbered

Porcelain : Decorative & Figurines : Bisque "Mer-girl" By Hertwig & Co, Germany, 1932

 

It's not unusual to find figural mermaids - those lovely ladies spoken about by sailors - supposedly luring ships onto the rocks. But this little beauty is a "Mergirl" - a little figure with a girl's body and a fish's tail instead of feet, blissfully riding a seahorse. She was made by Hertwig and Company in Germany, listed in their 1932 catalog. She is clearly marked "Germany" and also incised with the number "4280" - both to be found on the back side of the figure at the bottom of the seahorse and on the waves. Her colors were not fired, but painted on the bisque. She has blue-green curly hair, the same color as her tail and the waves she is riding. She has blue-green one stroke brows, black eyes and lid lines and coral lips. Her seahorse is light brown with darker brown "scales". The details are lovely. She was not meant to be submerged in a fish tank, but displayed "on dry land." Her delicate colors would not withstand a plunge into water. She is 2 1/2" long and about 2 3/4" tall. The white bisque base has a hole. A picture of this mergirl is featured in the book entitled "Bawdy Bisques & Naughty Novelties" by Sharon Weintaub, Schiffer Pub. Co, 2005. She is undamaged - no cracks, chips, crazing or any damage I can detect. I don't imagine many of these little lovelies have survived the years intact.

Item ID: MK-170