Two very rare antique hand paintings on porcelain by world-famous KPM-Berlin porcelain manufactory. The first painting "Psyche mourning" created by german porcelain painter Franz Xaver Thallmaier and the second - by Carl Meinelt after oil paintings of very popular German allegorical artist Wilhelm Kray (1828 -1889). On the reverse of both plates there are original titles of paintings in german: "Psyche mourning" and " Lorelei".

Both porcellain painters Thallmaier and Meinelt worked in Munich in the middle-second half of 19 century and listed in "General Dictionary of the artists" (in German) by K,G.Saur, 2005.

Psyche refers to the forces in an individual that influence thought , behavior and personality. The word was borrowed from ancient Greek, which referred concept of the self, encompassing the modern ideas of soul, self, and mind. The Greeks believed that the soul or "psyche" was responsible for behaviour.On our painting the psyche looks mourning to the God disappeared into air after, whose confidence disappointed she directly before

The legend of Lorelei, the siren of the Rhine, is one of those which the Germans adopted from classical antiquity and adapted to local surrounding and circumstances. William Kray represesents the lovely and loveless enchantress seated on the craggy summit of the cliff, which is nearly five hundred feet above the level of the stream, bathed in the beams of the moon, and by her alluring glances inviting the hapless boatmen to their destruction.

Inscription: both plates signed on the reverse with pressed marks of KPM, inscriptions in german with titles of paintings: "Psyche..." and "Lorelei", names of artists : on the first plate - F.X.Thallmaier, Munich after Kray, Munich and on the second - J. Kray , Meinzelt.the first name J. by Kray written with a mystake, correct is W.(Wilhelm) Kray.

Technique: hand paintings on porcelain , original period gold-plated frames

Measurements: unframed w 7 1/2" x h 10 " ( 19 x 25,5 cm ) , framed 13 1/3" x 16 " ( 34 x 40,5 cm )

Condition : very good