Featured History of this Mug?

I need some help in finding some more information about this mug. I received it as a gift from a collector who had to downsize, and I just adore it.
Thankfully it has some helpful identifiers, but my amateur investigating has gone nowhere. I thought I would be satisfied with having the year, the name, etc., but curiosity has gotten the best of me.

Any tidbit of information is welcomed.

 

The AK D France mark belongs to Kittel & Klingenberg circa 1880-1890. Which contradicts the date on your mug. They were exporters to the U.S.A.

 

The mug was painted by hand, either by a hobbyist or a professional blank china painter. No idea of why mice.

 

...which goes a long way toward explaining, rather than contradicting, the date...as it's directly beneath the signature of the painter.

 

Ah I see! It was made sometime between 1880-1890, then painted roughly 20 years later?

 

Yep. Might have been part of a child's set. In fact, the child might have been Warren Duvall. And here's the source of the decoration. An illustration by Gerhard Heilmann in Dekorative Vorbilder. 1900-1901.

Debora

 

In what part of the world was it found?

Debora

 

I cannot say. The collector I received it from spent most of her life in San Francisco California. She had quite the China collection and really loved hand painted pieces.
She could not physically travel so many of the pieces she collected were found online or local antique stores.

 

There was likely a matching bowl and plate.

Debora

 

Thank you for the insight! I really enjoy the idea that this was a children's painting project. It is a really nice piece of imagery I can attach this to. I find it very charming.

 

No, it wasn't a children's painting project. It was created by an adult and would likely have been part of a three piece set as used by young children in the era -- a bowl, a plate and a mug. Warren Duvall is most likely the name of the artist or perhaps the name of the child to whom it was gifted. The dancing mice would have been an avant garde design at the time coming from a German decorative art periodical.

Debora

 

Ah I see! Thank you for the clarity!

 

It has a fantastic look! A keeper. Is the mug child sized or more adult sized?

 

I'm just going to note that the date the mug was painted and the date it was produced do not necessarily have to conflict. Companies often had overstock. So some pieces could be painted years after the piece was made even "in company.". The Limoges factories and some German ones were the big suppliers of blanks for the hobbyist painter in the early 20th c. So, Warren could have painted on "new old stock" as it were.