Mid2Mod: fat lava

Showing posts with label fat lava. Show all posts

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Scheurich, thou art Temptation (Repost)

Do you have something (other than chocolate) that won't quit calling your name, whether you need it or not?

Scheurich fat lava is that voice in my ear...temptation with a capital T. Honestly, I have all the fat lava I need. In fact, I have more than I need. A few pieces are languishing in the closet, because I simply don't have a spot for them. I've been saying for days that I'm going to list them on Craigslist, but the truth is that I'm not quite ready to part with them.

Yet I sat at the computer last night, poring over Etsy listings like some kind of crazed clay addict...even putting several pieces in my shopping cart. C'mon, encourage enable me. Which ones should I buy?

(Technical issues resulted in search engine problems for almost two years' worth of my older posts, so I am reposting the ones I consider most informative. Though some of you have already viewed them, they will be new to others of you. Originally posted 9/28/2013)

Scheurich 203-26

etsy.com - Retro Fat Lava

Scheurich 206-26

etsy.com - Veryodd

Scheurich 237-15

etsy.com - EdibleComplex

Scheurich 284-14

etsy.com - Retro Fat Lava

Scheurich 401-28

etsy.com - RetroMinded

Scheurich 493-10

etsy.com - Greta Allan Gallery

Scheurich 203-26

etsy.com - JunkHouse

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

East German pottery: Strehla

The Strehla factory was located in a small town of the same name, in what was formerly East Germany. Most collectors consider it so similar to the ceramics being produced in West Germany at the time that they include it in their discussions of "fat lava."

The company was in operation from 1828 until 1989. It produced both utilitarian and decorative pieces. Most of the decorative ceramics were made of white or off-white clay. The markings often included only the form designation, but not the height. The company logo was stamped onto the clay before glazing and was often so blurry that it was only recognizable by its shape. Most Strehla pieces are not very tall (between 14-21 cm/5.5-8.3″).

From potsandpots.com, ginforsodditiques.com and petraonpottery.wordpress.com

etsy.com - vintage2remember

etsy.com - VintageDanishDesign

etsy.com - vintageberlin36

etsy.com - BeautifulSweden

etsy.com - Modernaire

etsy.com - SoVintastic

etsy.com - vintage2remember

etsy.com - VintageDanishDesign

etsy.com - Vasenhafen

etsy.com - RetroFatLava

20thcenturyforum.com

anseta.com

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

West German pottery: Steuler

The Steuler company was founded in Höhr-Grenzhausen by Georg Steuler in 1908 and started producing ceramics in 1917. The best-known of Steuler's designers were Cari Zalloni and Heiner Balzaar.
One of the most famous of the company's decor ranges was the Zyklon series by Zalloni.

The quality of Steuler's product was excellent. Clay was generally white or beige, although some of the old pieces were red, and bottoms were generally tidy. Both old and new marks were imprinted and centered. The old mark appeared to be an elongated uppercase S and superimposed uppercase T inside a vessel. The old mark was a stylized uppercase letter S superimposed with a lowercase T.

From potsandpots.com, fatlava.net and ginforsodditiques.com

Zyklon vase
etsy.com - TheCuriousCaseShop

etsy.com - BarkingSandsVintage

etsy.com - 1001vintage

etsy.com - RetroFatLava

etsy.com - VintageBerlin36

etsy.com - PasterCorte

etsy.com - RetrouverBiz

etsy.com - fatlavart

etsy.com - Fatlavabeach

Continua candleholder
etsy.com - 1001vintage

Older sticker
etsy.com - PasterCorte

Newer sticker
etsy.com - Eclectivist

Older mark
etsy.com - FabulousModerns

Newer mark
etsy.com - vintage2like

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

West German pottery: Scheurich

The Scheurich company was established in Kleinbeubach in 1954 by Alois Scheurich, who had formerly been a parter in Scheurich and Greulich (S&G), a distributer of ceramic and glass items.

Although Scheurich was a latecomer to the ceramic business in Germany, from the 1950s through the 1980s they produced and exported more ceramics than any other company in that country. Some of their products were specifically made for foreign markets and marked as such.

As a result of high production, there is a broad range of quality in Scheurich pieces, but the company experimented with glazes more than any of the other ceramic factories of the time, and some of their results were extraordinary. Some forms were produced in over 200 glazes, and some glazes were used on a large number of forms.

As a general rule, Scheurich forms tend to be simpler than some of the other companies, but to some collectors, that simplicity is desirable. Nevertheless, Scheurich offered the widest range of forms and glazes of any other company. Heinz Siery designed many of the Scheurich forms.

The clay used by Scheurich was white or beige, and the bottom ring ranges from tidy to ragged, so those features do not provide definitive identification. Likewise, there is no easily identifiable marking. Most often, the form and height, as well as W. Germany, appears in a circle inside the clay ring. In the highly textured "lava" styles, the marking may be obliterated by the glaze. Pieces in the 70s and 80s, when some of the company's best glazes were created, sometimes displayed the company name, while pieces in the 90s sometimes had a three-ring logo. The company also used paper stickers.

Most of my West German pottery is Scheurich. You can see it on Pinterest.

From potsandpots.com and ginforsodditiques

etsy.com - vintagemoodsNL

etsy.com - 20thCenturyEurope

etsy.com - Eclectivist

etsy.com - cherryforest

etsy.com - 1001vintage

etsy.com - BichenVintage

etsy.com - Fatlavart

etsy.com - RetroFatLava

etsy.com - Veryodd

etsy.com - VintageVektor

etsy.com - BlkrBolstadLoppis

etsy.com - RetroFatLava

etsy.com - Veryodd

ginforsodditiques.com

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

West German pottery: Ruscha

Ruscha was established in 1948 and was in business until 1996. Probably its most famous design was the 313 pitcher (shown front and center in the second image below), designed by Kurt Tschorner and the bull figurine by the same designer.

Designer Otto Gerharz developed the Vulkano glaze in 1951, which was a forerunner of the thick, dripping fat lava glaze that later characterized much of West German pottery. Other notable designers were Hanns Welling and Adele Bölz.

Rucha pottery is made of white clay and often has an especially neat unglazed ring on the bottom. Markings vary from early handwritten ones, to embossed ones that include the usual for and height in centimeters or just a single number. Some later pieces have the company name embossed on the bottom. Foil stickers were also used.

For many years, Otto Keramik has been producing bull figurines from the original Ruscha molds, and since neither the original Ruscha pieces nor the newer Otto pieces are marked, they can only be distinguished by glazes.

From ginforsodditiques and potsandpots.com