Christmas plate

A flat, round faience plate decorated with a Christmas scene. In the centre is a colourful image of smiling children playing in a room next to a festively decorated Christmas tree. Two boys and a girl are playing with Christmas presents: a toy clown, a doll, a rocking horse, balls, a trumpet, and tin soldiers. In the background, a rural landscape painting in an oval frame hangs on the wall next to a section of wooden door. The central scene is surrounded by a decorative openwork geometric pattern, originally gilded. The rim of the plate features a painted composition of fir branches and red poinsettias.

On the reverse, the plate bears the trademark of the Heinrich & Co. porcelain factory in Selb, Bavaria. The company was founded by Franz Heinrich in 1901. By the 1930s, it employed around 500 workers. At its peak, Heinrich & Co. was one of the leading porcelain manufacturers in Germany, alongside brands like Hutschenreuther and Rosenthal. After production was halted during the Second World War, Heinrich & Co. became the first porcelain factory in West Germany to resume operations, restarting in 1945.

This plate was removed from Brallentin Palace (present-day Bralęcin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship) by the donor’s father after the building was set on fire by the Soviet Army at the end of the Second World War. For most of its recorded history, dating back to the 13th century, the estate belonged to the von Wedel family. Through Helena von Saldern (née von Wedel, 1844–1920), the property passed to the Seldern family. Its final owner between 1920 and 1945 was her son, Baron Otto von Saldern (1879–1948), who placed great importance on preserving the family archive. Some of the documents relating to this legacy are still held in the State Archive in Szczecin.