Among the most iconic items of all the Mid Century art and design is West German Art Pottery. Together with your Danish teak sideboard or an Anglepoise lamp this was a must have for your interior during the 1960s and 1970s. Often very colourful these works fitted in very well with the flower-power movement of the siuxties and their popularity continued throughout the seventies and beyond. They are frequently referred to as 'Fat Lava' even though that actually only applies to one particular kind of thick glazing. The vast majority are single vases in various shapes but planters, jugs, figurines and wall hangings are also commonly found. There were a large number of companies that produced very similar kinds of works and it is not always easy to positively attribute certain vases to a particular producer. Potteries like Scheurich, Bay Keramik, Carstens, Ruscha and Dümler & Breiden produced enormous quantities that were exported throughout the world. A lot of the work, and particularly those with the so-called Fat Lava glaze can comfortably be described as brutalist. Like all good brutalist work the popularity dwindled towards the end of the twentieth century, often derided as too ugly, but in recent years has seen renewed interest.
While a lot of the most popular works are those that combine the fat lava with bright red and orange glazing I have selected this charming little vase which has a much more subdued colour scheme and fits in better in a brutalist interior. This work was created by Carstens Tönnieshof. It is numbered 7054 (for the shape) and 15 (for the height in cm). It is covered in a fantastic experimental glazing that combines various tones of brown, grey and cream colours. This gives it a very natural, stone-like appearance.
What I like especially about this vase is the fact it so effortlessly fits into so many different interiors.
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