Pulling in the Reins

Soon after I started collecting West-German Pottery, I learned about Ruscha wall plates. They are stunning, and I loved the idea that you could have a ceramic painting on your wall. Long story short, I wanted one. Even more specifically I wanted the large Ruscha wall tile with horses and a chariot, as the oranges and blues against the copper background are so pretty, and it such a strong image.

Back then, I was a student without a car, so my budget and hunting grounds were limited. After a few months, I got lucky and found a relatively cheap one online. My then boyfriend was so kind to drive me to Amsterdam to pick it up. The man who sold it had an AMAZING mid-century modern interior, which became my new interior decorating life goal if I ever got a real adult house.

When I proudly showed the tile to my parents, my dad told me that his parents had the exact same tile in their hallway! I must have seen it a hundred times, and it might have subconsciously influenced my style later, but I have to admit I couldn't actively remember it. My grandparents had a beautiful interior, with many antique pieces, but I love the fact that they were hip enough to have had some West-German pottery as well!

Nowadays, my grandparents' tile hangs in my parents' house. My tile had pride of place in my student room, and also in my later homes. It currently hangs in my "library".

A few birthdays ago I was surprised to find that there are variants of this wall tile, as my parents gifted me a beautiful vertical variant. (If you have read more of my blog, you'll know that my parents are the best Birthday Gift Givers ever, and many of the best pieces in my collection are thanks to them.) My collection got expanded with a tile with only the horses as well.

As much as I love all three tiles, I do think the design with the four horse chariot is the best. For me it is an iconic Ruscha item, and I love that the design has its roots in history. As far back as Egyptian times, there are depictions of horse chariots, as you can see here. Scheurich and Jopeko also made vases with this design. I think it was one of the designs on wall times that Ruscha produced most, as you see it reasonably often. 

Last year I was surprised at a flea market to find another version of the four horse chariot design, but this time with a light background! I hadn't seen that color combination ever before, but it works really well. 

For a few months this has adorned my walls with the other tiles, but as I was surprised with another Ruscha wall tile, a rare and beautiful bull, I have now put it in the shop. I have an agreement with my husband that if I add a piece, I also have to sell one. (This counts for books, my other love, as well). As much as I love West-German pottery, I just cannot keep it all!

As Ruscha made many beautiful wall tiles, I would love to hear (or even see) what your favorite is in the comments! 

Chariots of Fire

Remember the classic Egyptian inspiration for this Uebelacker vase that I wrote about a few weeks ago? Well, I have another German take on the classics for you today!

As we have had amazing autumn weather for the last two weeks, we decided to pick up my parents (who love a bit of antique-hunting themselves - I didn't get this passion from a stranger) and drive to Germany for the last few outdoor markets of this year.

These treasure hunts are what made me start collecting and selling vintage goodies in the first place. The thrill of the find, the feeling of anticipation and excitement on the way to the first market; you never know what you might find. We've had times when we came away with one small vase, but luckily we've also had trips were we returned with a car full of goodies.

This time we found some lovely items, the weather was good, it was great to spend time with my parents, people understood my German, and we had a Bratwurst. What more can one wish for?

One of the most enjoyable finds was this stunning baby blue vase with a décor of horse-drawn chariots, made by Jopeko. We found this beauty on the biggest market of the day, which mostly had people selling new items, and only a few sellers of used items. It is always difficult to predict if this will be the case in Germany, as both types of markets are called Trödelmarkt.

Jopeko 509-18, design from 1958

  

Even though this market didn't seem to be what we were looking for, we still decided to do a quick round, and at the last stand I spotted this vase, standing at the back of the stall. The lady who sold the vase told us that it was given to them by a Greek neighbor, and told them that it was a souvenir from Greece! At that time I couldn't read the markings on the vase, but I was still pretty sure that it was a fifties or sixties vase made by a West-German factory, so I bought it anyway.

When we came home, and it was time to do a bit of research, I found out that the vase is actually marked Foreign on the bottom, and not the usual West-Germany. I'm still wondering if the neighbor did actually buy the vase in Greece and brought it back to Germany, or if he bought it in Germany and didn't tell them or the story was remembered incorrectly.

Greek Amphora, British Museum

My first hunch, based on the shape of the vase, was that it was made by Kreutz or possibly by Jopeko. The sweet folks on the Pottery and Glass forum helped me out again, and they confirmed that it was indeed made by Jopeko. The shape of the vase was designed in 1958. This décor can also be found in black on red, and black on brown, even though in that case the chariots are in relief, and not impressed, as is the case with this example.

The image of horse-drawn chariots was of course based on decorations on ancient Greek and Roman vases, and this masculine, powerful image  was often used on West-German pottery, for example by Ruscha on wall-plaques and by Scheurich on floor vases.

The black on the light blue background works extremely well, and the slender handle make this a very elegant vase. Although the decoration is clearly inspired by the classics, the shape is quite innovative, and very Mid Century Modern.

I would love to hear if you have any clues if the vase might actually have come from Greece, if you have similar stories, please leave a comment!