Fancy a Cuppa Tea?

Although I mainly buy and sell West-German Fat Lava pottery and Mid Century glass as I collect these items myself, I do see a lot of wonderful other vintage or antique items when visiting fairs or shops. And being blessed with the collectors gen, sometimes you just fall in love with something, and you need to buy it.

A few weeks ago me and my husband were browsing one of the last outdoor markets of the year, it was lovely weather and there were a lot of sellers, and we found a plethora of goodies. Two of my favorite finds that day were tea-themed, and they complement each other perfectly!

First of all, we came upon this fab teacup and saucer. This isn't any old teacup, but proper British bone china. This piece was made as a commemorative item for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer by the company Regency China Ltd, founded in 1953 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. As it was made for the Royal Wedding, we can date it exactly to 1981, which is always lovely.

Commemorative cup for Charles and Diana by Regency China Ltd, 1981

Sadly I wasn't yet around in 1981, so I don't have any memories of that royal wedding, but I do remember seeing lady Di on the television during my childhood, and thinking what a beautiful and stylish lady she was.

Lady Diana, collage courtesy of fabsugar

Although I realize an enormous amount of commemorative goodies must have been made for the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana, just as was the case for the Royal Wedding of William and Kate, I do think some items are good investments that have the potential to become real collectibles. This cup and saucer are quite high quality and have some lovely transfer prints, in pretty pastel colors. However, I mainly fell in love with it because to me this item is so quintessentially British, and I've had a thing for the UK ever since I was a little girl.

Now, I was already a happy bunny after finding the teacup and saucer, but things were about to get even better! One of the other sellers was selling this stunning set of six Mid Century silver demitasse spoons. Each spoon has a different color of enamel, they come in their original box , and look like they were never used. How can you not fall in love with these, they are so pretty!

Egon Lauridsen Mid Century Danish silver enamel spoons

The spoons were made by Egon Lauridsen from Denmark. This silver smith worked in Copenhagen, and the particular mark on this spoons was used between 1936 and 1966. Sadly, I couldn't find more information about the maker. It does seem like this kind of enamel on silver items were common in Scandinavia in the fifties and sixties; in addition to spoons, bowls and cruet sets, a lot of silver on enamel jewellery can also be found.

Image courtesy of Veilinghuis Peerdeman

I have to admit that I have a bit of a weak spot for enamel on silver, and especially guilloche enamel. A few years ago I was at a local auction where I spotted the most beautiful silver miniature powder compact with green enamel guilloche decoration. It was made in a way that you could wear it as a pendant on a necklace. It even had the original little powder puff. Although I caught a bit of auction fever during bidding, I still wasn't able to purchase the compact. I regret not buying it until today.

Although it is obviously not the same, finding these pretty little teaspoons really made my day!

My First Fair!

Do you life in the Netherlands, and would you like to browse our items offline? You'll be able to see all the items in my Etsy shop and more on the 2nd and 3rd of November at the Collectors Fair in Nieuwegein (near Utrecht).

Hou je van vintage items en West-Germany vazen en wil je mijn vintage spulletjes liever in het echt bekijken? Op 2 & 3 november sta ik met een grote collectie Duits keramiek uit de jaren zeventig, Mid Century glas en andere items uit de jaren 50, 60 en 70 op de Grote Verzamel- en Curiosabeurs van Verzamelend Nederland in de Home Boxx in Nieuwegein!

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!

Mid Century Modern Times

Ever since I heard that some of the West-Germany pottery factories were involved in making clocks, I've been hoping to find one. During my 8+ years of collecting I had never been so lucky, although I saw on the internet forums that there were plenty of fellow collectors who managed to find lovely examples.

That was until a few weekends ago when I biked to one of the neighboring villages to visit a  fair. There were a lot of clothes  and some antiques on sale, but I couldn't see anything remotely resembling a piece of West-German ceramics. I was already starting to wonder why I biked the whole way down here (it was quite a windy day). And then I saw it! Tucked away behind some spice jars and oven dishes stood this beautiful slate gray seventies clock! Could it be that I was super lucky and this was not just a seventies clock, but a GERMAN seventies clock as well?

Kienzle Boutique clock, body made by Carstens Tönnieshof

The first thing I noticed after the vendor passed it to me was the name Kienzle Boutique, confirming that it must indeed be a German clock! Kienzle is one of the oldest clock and watch making factories in Germany, they started manufacturing in 1822, and are still in existence today. The Boutique line was launched in the seventies, and targeted young, hip buyers that loved design. This line included metal, plastic, and ceramic items. Most items in this boutique line were colorful, and typically seventies in design and décor.

  

So far, so good. But when looking for vintage items, there is always the question of condition. You sometimes encounter the most amazing pieces, and it is such a turn-off when you spot that large chip or crack three seconds later, after the initial shock of finding the item cooled down a bit. (I'm ashamed to admit that there have been occasions when I was SO happy about I find that I became blind for damages to items, and didn't notice them until unpacking the item at home.) But in this case the face of the clock is in perfect vintage condition! Obviously I couldn't leave it, so I purchased the item and happily took it home. For now it is happily ticking away the time in my kitchen.

There still was a bit of research left to do (my favorite part), as I would love to know who actually made the clock. I had read that both Herbolzheim Keramik - a company that also made kitchen ware and wall plates - and Carstens Tönnieshof  made ceramic bodies for Kienzle. Based on that info and comparable examples I figured this one was probably made by Carstens, but I wasn't sure. Luckily the lovely folks on the pottery and glassforum were able to confirm for me that this item is indeed made by Carstens Tönnieshof voor Kienzle.

So there you have it! My first West-Germany pottery wall clock. I love the Mid Century Modern look of this clock, with its simple square shape, nice clean lines and well placed red and blue color accents. The thick metal hanging chain gives it that characteristic seventies feel. Carstens and Kienzle have produced a great piece of art in this collaboration!

Serious Business

It was such a nice surprise this afternoon coming home to my beautiful, freshly printed business cards from the wonderful folks at moo.com! My husband has very kindly designed them for me with the versatile and easy tools available at Moo, and they came out wonderful. I love the clean design, and they are printed on pretty, thick, creamy paper

We've put a lot of hours and enthusiasm in the blog and Vase-o-mania shop during the last few weeks, so it is really cool that things starting to look slightly more professional, and thus more real.

I can't wait to be handing these out, it'll be a pleasure to do so. We've been treasure hunting for plenty more Fat Lava pieces and vintage gems to put in the store over the coming weeks, so make sure to check it out!

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!