Erdmann Schlegelmilch Porcelain Plate in Ornate Gold Frame. Center design features Jupiter disguised as Diana and the nymph Callisto. Signed on the back with "Prov. SXE. E.S. Germany" mark. Gold heart-shaped cover-up beneath hides original logo from Porzellanfabrik Thomas & Ens Company in Bavaria. 

Overall: 17 X 17 in. 

Sight: 9 X 9 in. 

Depth: 3 1/4 in. 

#2767 . 

The Erdmann Schlegelmilch Porcelain Factory was established in Suhl, Thuringia, Germany in 1861 by Leonard Schlegelmilch. It was named after Leonard’s father, Erdmann, who first instructed him in porcelain painting. Complicating matters for future historians and writers of descriptions for auction houses, a second company devoted to porcelain was created by and named after Reinhold Schlegelmilch in 1869 in the exact same city, although the founders were not related by blood to each other. The companies were rivals for several generations, with Reinhold’s sons taking over his company when he died in 1892 and Leonard’s sons taking over his company when he died in 1899. Small differences in the company information stamped on each piece from the city helped to tell them apart: some were marked “R.S.” and “R.S. Prussia,” which indicated Reinhold, and some were marked “E.S.” for Erdmann. In 1908 a porcelain factory started in Marktredwitz, Bavaria by Fritz Thomas fell on hard times and sold a large quantity of finished goods to Erdmann to cover debts. Erdmann further made the lives of future researchers difficult by lightly redecorating the plates and putting a golden cover-up in the shape of a heart over the Thomas name on the bottoms, selling them as new works. Both Suhl-based companies weathered World War I, but the trials and tribulations of the Nazi regime led Reinhold to close in 1934 and Erdmann to close in 1937.