Flickr Widget

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

West German pottery: Ceramano

Ceramano was founded in 1959 by Jakob Schwaderlapp, who also started Jasba. The company was created to provide higher-end art ceramic pieces to complement the less expensive, mass-produced Jasba lines. Ceramano pieces were more like studio ceramics, as they were of better quality and were sometimes more experimental. Although most companies used molds to speed production, some Ceramano pieces were made by hand.

Many of the bases of Ceramano vases are hand-marked and include the name of the decor (style/line). The principal designers, although there were others, were Hans Welling and Gerda Heuckenroth. You might remember from the previous post in this series that Heuckenroth also designed for Carstens.

In the 1970s, as studio ceramics lost their popularity, Ceramano bought the Waku Feuerfest Keramik factory in order to step up their mass-production, but this venture proved unsuccessful, and the company closed in the 1980s.

Note: I encourage you to go to the websites I cite in this series. They do a much more thorough job of providing information on each company, as this series is meant only to be an overview. On those sites, you will find a wealth of specific information about designers, decors and production methods. In particular, Ginny and Forrest Poston of Gin-For's Odditiques do an outstanding job of explaining the markings of each company.

From potsandpots.com and ginforsodditiques.com


etsy.com - PasterCorte

etsy.com - CzechGlassCollector

etsy.com - RetroFatLava

etsy.com - 1001vintage

etsy.com - AustinMetroRetro

etsy.com - fotobox

etsy.com - vintage2remember

flickr.com - julianshimmin

etsy.com - ginforsodditiques


Here are some excellent photos of Ceramano markings from Ginny and Forrest Poston's site. They note the clay used by Ceramano is usually reddish brown and that the markings are usually hand-made and include the name of the company and the decor and often the initials of the designer. However, they also say that some items have been found with very few markings.


genforsodditiques.com

ginforsodditiques

The following bottom is of a Ceramano piece has lines resulting from wire being used to separate the vase from the table of the wheel. This technique originated with Japanese potters, but it has been used worldwide.


ginforsodditiques.com

8 comments:

  1. A German maker I've never seen here, most is the pity. Love the first piece!

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    1. I've never seen any either. Because the quality was high and some pieces were handmade, production was relatively low compared to many other companies.

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  2. Hi Dana, I'm just stopping by to say how delightful your blog is. Thanks so much for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris

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    1. I'm so glad you enjoyed stopping by my blog, Chris. I visited your, and it is delightful too!

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  3. Love me some WGP. I do not find as much here in SoCal, but it was plentiful when I lived in Italy. If only I had known then what I know now.

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    1. I love it too, and I made a huge haul of WG pieces last summer from a woman who had lived in Germany and moved back to Texas when her military husband was stationed here. Your lament is common among many people I know who have lived or traveled extensively in Europe and later developed a love for WGP. If only...

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  4. Hi Dana, Have you seen the "Birds" tile ?

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  5. Not sure how to send you a photo of it here?

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