Ferdinand Preiss

Ferdinand Preiss, 1905

Johann Philipp Ferdinand Preiss (13 February 1882 – 29 July 1943) in Erbach, German Empire. He was one of six children to Karl Daniel Heinrich Preiss and his wife Katharine. He wanted to become an engineer but both of his parents died within a short time span when he was 15.
He was apprenticed to the ivory carver, Philipp Willmann and lived with his family. In 1901 he traveled to Rome and Paris. He became a friend and acquaintance of Arthur Kassler in Baden-Baden, which led to the founding of the company Preiss & Kassler operating from Berlin. Kassler became the business-minded partner and Preiss controlled artistic production.

In 1907 he married Margarethe Hilme and together they had two children, Harry and Lucie. Initially the company created small ivory carvings of children and statuettes of classical form.

In 1916, he actually lived at Weichselstraße 20, Berlin, as can be seen here
Ferdinand Preiss has sometimes been incorrectly called Fritz Preiss.
The firm closed with Preiss's death from a brain tumor in Berlin, on 29 July 1943.