After Richard Dölker, Vietri German Period Goat Sculpture, 20th Century, Ceramic

MEASUREMENTS:
Height: 20.5 cm; Width: 14 cm; Depth: 24 cm; Weight: 1.585 kg

Item :
A magnificent, large, glazed and vitrified ceramic sculpture, entirely hand-molded and decorated, depicting a goat. This unsigned work dates back to the early decades of the 20th century, between 1920 and 1950. This imposing and exquisite majolica ceramic sculptural goat is a work of art of extraordinary sculptural strength and visual impact, originating from the renowned art district of Vietri sul Mare. The piece, characterized by its significant dimensions (20.5 cm high, 24 cm long, and 14 cm wide), is entirely hand-molded and decorated with a brush under a glossy glaze. The animal's body is intricately covered with an exuberant series of conical protuberances applied in relief, enhanced by a vivid color palette where warm ochre and orange tones fade into cool grass green. The head, with its proud and archaic modeling, is surmounted by majestic twisted horns punctuated by dense manganese brown zebra stripes. Although the work bears no marks or initials under the base, a rigorous formal analysis leads us to propose a fascinating and plausible attribution to the great German master Richard Dölker (1896–1955), a key figure of the Vietri "German Period." Several stylistic elements strongly support this suggestive hypothesis: first and foremost, the vigorous three-dimensional conception and complex sculptural plasticity, far removed from the two-dimensional and pictorial forms typical of contemporary Irene Kowaliska. Secondly, the zoomorphic subject of the goat perfectly reflects Dölker's pastoral and archaic mysticism, as do the dense geometric and tribal striations of the horns, which recall his characteristically expressive handwriting. This leaves open the philological question of whether this is an unsigned masterpiece from the 1930s by Richard Dölker.

Useful information for appraising the object:
The economic positioning of this sculpture is closely linked to the resolution of the attributional doubt, creating two very distinct market scenarios of great interest to collectors. If the work were confirmed as a superb, high-quality workshop re-edition based on its archival casts (in this case, made by the C.A.S. Solimene factory in Vietri using historical models in its archives), its market value would firmly settle in the €500–€700 range, a price justified by the sculpture's excellent state of preservation, its generous dimensions, and the rarity of the subject compared to more common donkeys. Conversely, if further studies or the possible traceability of an illustrious provenance were to definitively confirm the autograph authorship of Richard Dölker, the object's value would undergo an exponential revaluation. Dölker's unique and authentic pre-war zoomorphic sculptures are considered museum-quality masterpieces and are regularly sold at major national and international auction houses, with prices consistently ranging between €1,500-€3,000 and €6,000-€7,000, depending on the size and complexity of the object's decoration and shape. This work therefore presents itself as an immensely valuable acquisition, both for its decorative and collectible value, with considerable speculative potential precisely because of the uncertainty surrounding its attribution.

Information on the artist and/or manufacturer:
Richard Dölker was the undisputed leader and intellectual driving force of the "German Period" of Vietri sul Mare, a golden age (1920–1940) that redefined the boundaries of Italian artistic ceramics. Born in Germany and educated in a climate steeped in Northern European Expressionism, Dölker arrived on the Amalfi Coast bringing with him a revolutionary artistic sensibility. His brilliance lay in his ability to blend the age-old local ceramic technique with a primitivist, mythological, and fairy-tale language, strongly influenced by tribal graphics and natural deities. Working for historic manufacturers such as Max Melamerson's I.C.S. (Industria Ceramica Salernitana), Dölker introduced novel iconographic motifs, populating Campanian majolica with fauns, goats, centaurs, and religious processions in saturated, vibrant colors. His works, celebrated for their extraordinary synthesis of sculptural power and graphic decoration, have been exhibited at historic international exhibitions and are now held in the most important museums of applied arts, including the Raito Ceramics Museum at Villa Guariglia, remaining an essential point of reference for the history of twentieth-century design.