Art Nouveau style green frog skin style Art and Crafts glaze, 11" diameter, 7" tall, excellent.....Much of the collector interest in European ceramics from the early 20th century has been focused on western European countries, but a major art pottery movement reflecting the design elements of the Art Nouveau (Jugensdtil) and Secession periods during which it arose was burgeoning in what was then known as Bohemia. Traditionally, Amphora referred to large Greek storage vessels with an oval body, usually tapering toward the base, and with two handles extending from just below the lip to the shoulder. However, the area of central Europe now part of Austria and Czechoslovakia produced a very fine art pottery also known as Amphora from the late 19th century until the early 20th century. Amphora employed very innovative shapes including figurals especially during the Art Nouveau period when their female busts were sometimes monumental and reflected a level of detail very seldom seen in porcelain manufacturing. Amphora works also incorporated animals into their designs including serpents, parrots, and dragons, and other styles were unique to the Amphora manufacturers such as the "drop edge candle vase". Amphora designs began with a drawing or watercolor which captured the desired finish look of the piece, and once the design committee had given approval to the design it was given a style number which was subsequently impressed or inscribed on the bottom of Amphora works. Many Amphora designs were produced in a variety of sizes, with the larger and more substantial being more complex to make and commanding higher prices originally. As such, the larger size pieces such as female busts are less common since they were less affordable during their original production, so they are consequently rarer and more desirable for collectors. You can see some of the finest Teplitz Amphora including the Art Nouveau porcelain busts on the pages of the Collectics Online Museum 1890-1935.Generally recognized as the first and arguably the best of the Amphora manufacturers, Reissner, Stellmacher & Kessel was established in the Turn-Teplitz region of Bohemia in 1892. Partners Hans and Carl Reissner, Edward Stellmacher, and Rudolf Kessel after Kessel took over the remaining factories of Alfred Stellmacher. This area of central Europe was close to Dresden, Germany and benefited from the long tradition of ceramics manufacturing among the peoples of eastern Germany. The ceramics Reissner and his 2 partners produced was known for its unique styles and the interesting glazes they used to create what became known as "Amphora" pottery or simply "Teplitz." Reissner, Stellmacher & Kessel (R. St. K.) displayed their work in America for the first time at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair where they were awarded a best in show prize and first attracted the attention of the American buying public. In 1897, R. St. K. produced began art pottery vases in the style of Grueby and Rookwood, but with more elaborate and Art Nouveau and Jugensdtil influenced designs. The partners Reissner, Stellmacher, and Kessel enjoyed business and artistic success and again took top honors at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, but in 1905 at which time Stellmacher left the firm to establish his own company under his own name. The original firm continued to operate as the Reissner & Kessel Amphora Works and operated as such until Kessel also left in 1910. Subsequently, the original firm operated under the business name Amphora Werke Reissner while Stellmacher continued in operation only until 1912. Amphora Werke Reissner continued to produce fine Amphora art pottery through the Art Deco period and the years of World War II, at which time it was nationalized by the Czechoslovakian government in 1945. There were many other Amphora manufacturers who established operations in the Turn-Teplitz region, while imitators emerged elsewhere such as the Zsolnay factory in Pecs, Hungary which went on to create some innovative designs of their own.