Volkstedter Porzellanfabrik Richard Eckert & Co., Wandering knife grinder

porcelain, enamel paints, gilding; height: 18.3 cm; base: ca.11 x 7.5 cm (irregular oval);
Signed in cobalt on unglazed base: crossed forks (imitation of Meissen brand), impressions: 6124/ 36, iron red: 17.
Germany, Volkstedt (Thuringia), 19th/20th century, ca. 1894-1918.
On a flat rocaille base, a man wearing a gray frock coat and black hat; he stands bent over a portable sharpener with a rotating grinding stone, resting his right foot on the pedal that drives the device, with a knife prepared for sharpening in his hand.
The figure refers to an 18th-century series of porcelain depictions of itinerant artisans and street vendors, known as cris de Paris or Wiener Kaufrufe, fired in Meissen or Vienna, among other places.