Three years ago I fell in love with West German pottery of the 1950s through the 1970s, also called "
fat lava." Since then, my collection has grown, and I have narrowed my search to pieces by Scheurich, my favorite manufacturer. However, there are a number of other companies that made this type of pottery, and over the next few weeks, I'm going to focus on several of them. The subject of this week's post on West German pottery is Bay Keramik.
Bay was founded in 1933 by Eduard Bay in the western German town of Ransbach-Baumbach. The company was one of the leading art pottery producers from the 1950s until the very early 1970s, and Bodo Mans was perhaps their best known designer. His colorful designs were popular then and are considered highly collectible now.
When identifying Bay pieces, look for white clay and the use of a lower-case Y in the word "Bay" and also in the word "Germany." The name of the company is not always present, but the lower-case Y makes it fairly certain that Bay was the manufacturer.
From fatlava,net, anseta.com and ginforsodditiques.com
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| 1stdibs.com |
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| retropottery.net |
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| pinterest.com - Colleen Abbott |
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| vasekino.net |
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| grahamandco.org |
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| etsy.com - vintage2remember |
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| lamesa.de |
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| ginforsodditiques.com |
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| bungalowbill.com |
Wonderful Dana...thanks for using one of mine too :). Never tire of Bay designs.....love the first one, always attracted to vibrant colours on this pottery
ReplyDeleteBay made some beautiful pieces. I'm actually attracted to the more muted colors...like yours. :)
DeleteThanks for doing this! I love German ceramics but don't know that much about them. Can't wait for the rest of your series!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you think a series like this will be helpful. Thanks for letting me know you like the idea. I'll do one company each week (probably on Wednesdays) for at least a couple of months.
DeleteYes I like this idea. I really want to learn more.
DeleteOoh yes please. I've also started collecting but know nothing about it...
ReplyDeleteStay tuned, because I'll try to hit all the major manufacturers. I always love encouraging someone else to get excited about a new collection!
DeleteI'm always learning something new from your blog; and you've taught both the Great Scot and I quite a lot!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for saying that. Instagram has really taken a toll on blog traffic lately, and I've been tempted to throw in the towel, but when I get comments like these, it makes me want to keep blogging.
DeleteI am not a pottery kind of person..but your finds and your posts make me want to own them :)
ReplyDeleteThat's such a nice thing for you to say! You've followed my blog almost from the very beginning, and you always inspire me to keep on posting.
DeleteThanks Dana, great idea for a series. I have a piece of pottery that belonged to my mom marked West Germany that maybe I can ID. Two pieces actually, but the second might not be Germany.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous group you showed us.
I hope you'll be able to ID the pieces or at least get some new ideas about where to look for information.
DeleteHi Dana
ReplyDeleteThank you for this series, the first post is already promising. Maybe you remember, I started reading your blog because I searched for Fat Lava Information :-). Since then I enjoy following your blog a lot and have also collected a fair bit of pottery. Luckily over here (Switzerland, right on the border to Germany) we still find heaps of W-German pottery on flea markets for 1-10 franks. Maybe I should send a photo one time. I have lots of brown, beige and also red, orange and yellow vases and some pots. Mainly Scheurich, but also Carsten Toennishof and Bay.
Keep up the good work, you have a loyal follower (almost) on the other side of the world.
Best regards
Barbara
I'm so glad to have you as such a loyal follower, and I'm glad this series is going to be something of interest to you. It must be wonderful to live where you have such access to West German pottery. You and I seem to like the same manufacturers. I'd love to see photos of your collection sometime.
DeleteThis stuff is crazy gorgeous. It gives me something new to hunt for and I appreciate it. I see much West German in my future. I can sell my Bauer and switch over.
ReplyDeleteI loved collecting West German pottery when I lived in Canada, but it's extremely rare in greater Seattle, and I never see it in thrift shops here. Any insights into what might account for this?
ReplyDeleteI don't run into a lot in the Dallas/Fort Worth either. Most of mine has come from Etsy and eBay. I wonder, though, if it's easier to find in south central and southeast Texas where there is a strong German background. Is there much of a German-American population in Seattle?
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