Mid2Mod: 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