Blink! An Ystad Metall Candelabra

A few weeks ago I read the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. It's a great book, certainly a recommendable read. It explains the different sort of snap decisions we make, and how they can influence our behaviour in a positive or negative way.

The book begins with a case of an old Greek statue, a Kouros, that is brought to the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. The statue is presented to the museum, they really want to purchase it, but as it costs an enormous amount of money, they research it extensively. After their research they decide the statue is the real deal, and buy it. But, shock and horror,  when some of the specialists in the field later see the statue, they instinctively know that it is a forgery.

So, how does this relate to Fat Lava? It very much reminded me of the process of "hunting" for goodies on markets. When I'm scouring stalls for Mid Century Modern, I know in a split second if there is something interesting for me. Even if there are more than a hundred items on the table, I'll spot what I want immediately, sometimes from three rows across the hall.

The amazing thing is that this also works with items I have never seen in real life before. Last weekend I was at a market, and from the corner of my eye I spotted this beautiful candleholder by Ystad Metall.

I had only seen images of this online, but it is very high on my oh-how-I-wish-I-will-come-across-one-of-these-in-the-wild-list. And there it was! As Malcolm Gladwell describes, in less than a second I knew what it was, and that it really was a Ystad candlestick.

And it is every bit as beautiful as I imagined. The only thing that surprised me is that it is slightly lighter than I anticipated.

The candlestick was probably designed by Gunnar Ander*, somewhere in the 1960s. Gunnar Ander was a Swedish designer, that lived from 1908 to 1976. He mainly worked for the Lindshammar glass factory, but was also active for Ystad Metall for a while.

Although I cannot confirm this with certainty, the glass discs in the candelabra are attributed to Kosta Boda, and possibly made Erik Hoglund. It at least is mentioned that Kosta Boda produced glass for Ystad, so it is likely that these were also made by them.

For me, the combination of the translucent glass and the dark metal are what makes this such a strong design. It's a bold and modern piece. The piece is marked Ystad Metall on one of the legs.

For now (although it might at some point become available in the shop) it lives happily on my beautiful antique writing desk, between part of my collection of Roth vases, and a Super lamp by Martine Bedin. I think it compares well with these iconic designs.

*I believe this is his correct name, but I also see his name described as Gunnar Anderssen or Andersson in places.

Spotting UFOs

Whilst preparing some listings for my Etsy market, I came across another vase from my collection that is clearly inspired by the space age from the sixties and seventies, just as the Walther Gerhards UFO vase. In fact, this vase also looks a lot like an UFO! This stunning vase, model 179 17, was made by Dümler & Breiden, probably sometime during the 1960s.

Dümler & Breiden UFO vase

Dümler & Breiden were located in Höhr-Grenzhausen, which lies in the famous Westerwald pottery area, and the company existed from 1883 until 1992. They made pottery that ranges from very traditional to more experimental, even though in my opinion, they never were so innovative (especially shape-wise) as companies such as Roth. The shape of this vase must be one of their more exciting and cutting-edge designs, and is very much by the Space Age.

The Space Age influence is not limited to West-German pottery, but it had a lot of influence on design during the 50s and 60s in general . During this era the first manned crews went into space, and we were aiming for the moon. Even though science fiction movies and books inspired the first spacy designs, the Space Age design-craze got a new impulse with Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite that was launched into an orbit around space in 1957.

Replica of Sputnik 1

 The influence of the space age could be seen everywhere during the fifties and sixties: in architecture (in particular in the famous Googie architecture in the US), in the details of cars, in clothing, and design of televisions and radios, and much, much more. Of course West-German pottery couldn't stay behind! Luckily this resulted in some pretty fun vases, of which this is a great example.

Do you have any cool examples of West-German pottery influenced by the Space Age? Feel free to post them in the comments section, I would love to see them!

Walk Like An Egyptian

West-German pottery often drew inspiration from historical examples, both in shape and in décor. Last week when I was unpacking a box that came from storage, I re-stumbled upon a cute little vase by Übelacker that was clearly influenced by Egyptian art and ceramics, but in a very twentieth century way.

1960s Übelacker vase

The shape of this vase is pretty basic. If someone asked me to draw an archetypal shape of a vase, there is a big chance that I would come up with a similar form. Although it is not exactly the same, it seems based on the shape of a Roman Amphora (although similar shapes were also found in excavations in tombs in Egypt), but without the handles. The mottled yellow background very much reminds me of Egypt, as it is a sort of sandy yellow, reminiscent of the desert.

But what makes the vase so much fun for me is the décor! The men walking with their hands up in the air immediately reminded me of the song from The Bangles, Walk Like an Egyptian. I can remember the Bangles-ladies walking in the same way in the video of the song.

Seeing this vase, and rewatching the video by The Bangles did make me wonder: did Egyptians actually walk like an Egyptian? The image we have of them walking in this way seems to come from the Ancient Egyptian relief paintings, where figures were depicted showing both the profile of the face and the body. The placement of the hand (one arm up, one horizantal, fingers pointing out) must have been added later, as I never saw an Egyptian fresco in this gesture. It slightly reminds me of Balinese dancing? Maybe these two styles were successfully mixed to become The Bangles dance.

Measuring and recording the harvest is shown in a wall painting in the Tomb of Menena, at Thebes,
source: Guinness E. Alma

Reading a bit more about the topic, I found out that there are much earlier examples of these Egyptian moves. One of the earliest examples I could find are the Sand Dances by the British trio Wilson, Keppel and Betty. These 'eccentric dances' were the highlight of their show, during which Wilson and Keppel would dance on a stage covered with sand, dressed up in Arabic inspired costumes. They were inspired by the discovery of the tomb of King Tutanchamun by Howard Carter in 1922. The trio performed all over the world (with several different 'Bettys') from 1919 until 1963. I would like to believe that one of the designers at Übelacker saw their performance in Germany and was inspired to create this vase!

Orange UFOs

From the first time I picked up one of the vases made by Walter Gerhards KG, they became one of my all-time favorite companies that made West-Germany vases during the sixties and seventies.

A lot of mystery still surrounds this maker, and our knowledge is definitely fragmentary. They were first thought to be called Söndgen, later Kera Keramik, but we only recently found out that the company was actually  called Walter Gerhards KG, and they were located at the epicenter of the German ceramics industry in Ransbach - Baumbach, located in the famous Westerwald area. The company was probably led by Mr. Walter Gerhards himself, as he is listed as the liable person for the company in the companies registry (Handelsregister). They existed only for a short period of time: from 1959 until January 25, 1978, when it was deregistered. During this period the factory apparently produced items under the names "WG Kera Modern" and "WG Exquisite Kera Modern" from 1959 until 1974, and from 1974 until 1978 under the name "Gerhards" and "Gerhards Gmbh". Labels on these vases seem relatively rare, but most vases are marked in a specific way, that can help us recognize them.

Because the company only existed for 19 years, this would logically mean that the output from Walter Gerhards KG is much smaller, and thus rarer, than the output from large and long existing companies like Scheurich or Ruscha.

So why do I love the vases that were made by Walter Gerhards? The ranges produced have strong shapes, that for me are characteristic for the Mid Century Modern period, mostly with sharp angles combined with curved lines.  Some shapes are unlike anything any other company ever made, and they are very innovative.

One of my favorite shapes is the 1040, or as we like to call it in our family: the 'UFO vase'. I can imagine that the design of the vase was inspired by the space race of the 1950s and 1960s - or by the interest in extraterrestrial life, as was not uncommon in design of this era.

"Look! A flying Walter Gerhards vase!"

For me this design is the perfect example of a combination of strong straight lines with curvy lines, something West-German pottery is renowned for. This vase comes in several glazes, so far I have 5 and a few small variations, but my favorite is the version that comes with thick black lava and is combined with a beautiful red/yellow/orange glaze, as pictured below.

As you can see, these wonderful outlandish shapes were combined with some of the most beautiful glazes. Walter Gerhards uses daring color combinations such as bright green on black, purple with yellow, and orange with black. For me these colors ooze the seventies. In addition to colors, a lot of attention in the design is paid to using different textures. Thick lava drippings are combined with extremely glossy glazes, and matte backgrounds are mixed with shiny glazes.

Another important aspect for me is the high quality of these vases. The vases are quite heavy and the glazes seem expensive. They look more like studio vases than mass-produced vases, but I'm not sure if that is true. Unlike some companies, I have never seen a Walter Gerhards vase with a production error or with unglazed areas. All in all, they are just nice to handle, to touch!

In my opinion Walter Gerhards is still very much underrated by West-Germany collectors, and maybe this is because the output of the factory seems small and so little information is yet known about the company. Hopefully we will find out some more information about Walter Gerhards and his company in the future. I would definitely recommend picking up some pieces now, as bargains can still be found,  if only because they make a wonderful addition to the collection of any Fat Lava lover!

High quality glazes and beautiful shapes

Do you have any wonderful examples of Walter Gerhards pottery, or new glazes on the 1040 that you want to share! Let me know in the comments section, I would love to see them!

A lot of theinformation used on this blog was shared by members on the amazing pottery & glass forum. If you love West-German pottery and have never visited the site, please go and have a look! www.potteryandglass.forumandco.com