Ernst August Leuteritz created 1862 the so-called "Snake Handle Vase" based on a prototype from Roman Antiquity that was to become one of the loveliest and most popular showpiece vases in the history of Meissen modelling over the following decades and centuries. Porcelain painter Victoria Schmidt was inspired to fashion the figure of Medusa from Greek mythology by the vase's snake handles. Her vase depicts Medusa's head, which is made to stand out against a chocolate-brown ground by areas of light and shadow painted in gilt.