Printemps Baby Shoe from Herend. Hand-painted porcelain from Hungary.

4.5"L X 2.75"H

Printemps, or Spring, is known as Bouquet de Tulip in Europe, and for good reason. Introduced by Herend in the 1930s, the central element of this 'Hungarianate' decor is a large, striped, playfully bowing tulip with crimped petals. The beauty of the vivid red and yellow blossom is further enhanced by the tones of the smaller flowers and foliage surrounding it, including half-open yellow and red roses, forget-me-nots, and daisies. A smattering of light green leaves and tiny many-colored flowers are scattered around the perimeter, while a golden rim completes this eye-catching design.

A highly naturalistic pattern, Printemps utilizes nine different colors, and is available in six distinct motifs, each of which is imbued with a special liveliness and freshness through the use of a softer brush stroke thatn that employed in most Herend designs. Each component of the pattern is composed almost entirely from a series of very thin brush lines seamlessly integrated with one another. The result is an image so lifelike, that one can almost smel the scent and see the beads of dew on the leaves and petals. Creating even a single dinner plate can take and hour and fifteen minutes, as both the base color and shading are applied in a single session.

BT----07570-0-00