Over the next weeks i would like to share with u the wonderful world of Scandinavian design in glass objects created by some of the worlds best artists showing us new forms and exciting colors.Very different to the victorian times where the new articles were light in shape and giving a free form feeling...with soft pastel colors and ofcourse some of the brightest colors imaginable.
Here i will feature two factories as an example and the later will go into greater depth on each one sharing with u the links that cover the subjects and showing the artists work to the best.
the first being that of the Holmegaard factory in Sweden and the artist being Per Lutkin who designed for the Holmgaard factory.He is held in the highest esteem and to own a piece designed by him is a must....most say...but u be the judge!
This wonderful soft apple green vase is designed by him and signed also with a number
the next image shows a bark like texture from the Iitalla facory in Finland and here the designers were plentiful and they created some of the most interesting designs....and to remember that some of these are still in production after 30/40 years.As popular as they are still today some of the older lines are still as stunning and very collectible.
the vase featured here is by the most Famous of them all....Tapio Wirkkala...quite a genius as we will discover later on...here i will supply links to the facory and his designs at the next posting.
I have at this stage loaded a great deal of scandinavian glass on my site so visit there and take a peak...see if we can excite u as where we will be going.It will be fun as there are many paths to different sites and views by respective collectors /owners.
so stay with us for awhile and find some treasures.
visit the shop................scandinavian glass
till next time ...have fun...i am as theres a lot of snow aound and well its jolly cold as well.

So it has taken me some time to get down writing the final episode of the wonders of German ceramics covering the 60/70s not that i have lazy but have had a lot on my plate of late.
I have opened a shop in Zurich which has taken all of my time and as the adagge goes...all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.Even the friends have said lighten up but when u have a mission then all else takes that back seat and my latest additions have rather driven me crazy as when i go to sleep thats all i dream of so its now been put to bed and enough is enough.
Lastly but by no means least are the following factories that cover the west german ceramic session and they are the smaller companies who produced wonderful items.I show no pics but will once again suggest that u try and buy a copy of....Fat Lava...mark hill where a fair amount is shown and discussed.
Jopeko...which is still in existance making goodies and is family run.They produced heavily encrusted lava wares in bright colors which are very collectible today.Impressed numbers and they used a white clay for the bodies.
Otto Keramik.....they were very sucessful in discovering experiments with lava glazes which made them stand apart from others.There pieces are not marked and a white clay was used....but an id mark which is very helpful is that they covered the base of their pieces with a green felt...not the bottoms are always flat.
Roth.....well here we find pieces that are rather exciting and well collected...indication of a good price in the market place and to find a piece of roth is not that easy with saying that they sold a lot for such a small company so must have been popular.Roth labels are attched...also moulded no in differing sequences and a red clay was used for the bodies.
Ü-Keramik...........an unusual technique in that a red fire glaze using selenium was used creating wonderful glazes.white clay was used with numbers impressed into the body...and this is where one should visit the fat lava forum...see link on right.
there are a few others that were producing but little has been written about them and once again join the fat lava forum and speak to Kev who is very knowledgable and most helpful.
As to my latest collection...i am still laying it out to form a well documented oversight with examples i have found in the last year and the base collection will not be sold but where i have doubles these will be offered.
Thats all for now as i have a few fairs to attend and hopefully sell....on main street!!

Scheurich ...Scheurich...Scheurich!!

This Company was one of the largest producers of West German Ceramics at the time with a wide variety of shapes sizes and colors.Does this mean that Scheurich pieces donot stand up to the rest?
Defintely not as the designs are wild and wonderful and another reason is that so much that i have come across is sadly damaged...easily prone to this factor yet their production was of a high standard.Pieces are not always easily identified as the numbers underneath were covered in a rough glaze which makes them unreadable.So here one has to know the clay shapes and designs to be able to attribute the items to Scheurich.....unsure then go here for help............fat lava forum
So the war was over and like the rest of the West German ceramics factories Scheurich went into production in 1954 and quickly became one of the largest producers spanning a huge market.
The clay used was white with moulded numbers with three to four digits and a hyphen with further digits and also with W.Germany.Where the piece was not large enough to take all the infomation one will find numbers only and then a lot have a thick black glaze over the base that obscures the information but with handling enough pieces the gaze is( fairly) easily recognizable.
Strong colors seemed to be the order of the day and here one will find some serious Fat Lava glazes
that carry the imagination,perhaps to the moon landing of the time,which excited the world to a new look and adventure.To say that Scheurich went overboard with styles and shapes is no stretch of the imagination as i seem to find a new item each week that puts a smile on my face in wonderment....how much more can there be.
The main man,designer for this establishment was Heinz Siery who later designed for Ruscha
he brought about new shapes and handles.There is little other information on the subsequent designers and hopefully later in the year when the NEW book on West German ceramics hits the shelves there will be a whole lot more.Now available.....link Mark Hill.....
Scheurich produced so many different sizes and colors in one style/shape jug that its rather exciting to go about setting up a collection merely on the pattern and then all the shapes and sizes...and be assured this will keep u busy for a long time.Here i must say i never limit myself to just one thing or range as if there is nothing to be had,say in that pattern,then at least i have something to collect in the meantime.Becoming bored with no finds is no fun so stretch your horizons so that u have fun in considering other avenues.
Lets say u start with Ruscha `Flavour`` of the month and then next year Scheurich is flavour of the month at least if u have two of these as compact collections then u would have done well.
Once again find a knowledgeable dealer who shares your passion as he/she will always help u change over the years to bigger and better not saying that big is always better...well now i am in a spot..! some say yes and some say no.
Please do visit the shop......Scheurich items

Further help go to the helpful Fat Lava Forum.....See link right..

Royal Doulton `Reynard Fox`coffee set.....foxy or not read all about it

So i have decided to take a break from West German ceramics for a few days as not all the readers are avid fans so i thought why not something foxy for those who love a laugh or two.
Found this amazing coffee set in near perfect condition and the whiteness of the porcelain is just wonderful and rather striking for the age.(18 pieces in all...12 coffee cups and sauces)
On each piece is the face or body of a fox which is raised from the porcelain making it very pronounced and real to life.Some face this way and others that and their eyes look as if they have a `foxy `twinkle.The handles are shaped in that of a riding crop with the rope trailing around the bases of the article.So where is it from...England and of the factory Royal Doulton with their usaul high standard of production. No further information of a designer...someone out there may know more than what i have been able to find...but something tells me that whoever the designer may have been...he had a great sense of humour and was intrigured by fairytails as each fox is so wickedly depicted.....SLY fox perhaps.
The pattern is called Reynard the Fox and this is where i discovered a whole new meaning to the fox................
Reynard the Fox was the ledgendary 12thc activist who exposed the strange and incongruous doings of the wealthy and powerful....(Henry Reynard...speaks out)
then after some fun on wikipedia we have the following...where this character appears
From Friedrich Netzsche...brilliant man who died from mental illness-...well we all know his work
to a Dutch/nazi film...recently re found and re constructed
Author Micheal Moorcock...The city in the autum stars
Science fiction/fantasy writer ...Andre Norton.....and then covered in music as well
Igor Stravinsky...yeah him as well....and then in English folk songs and english band Angelica...album 7 year itch....to musicals the famous The road to Oz where Dorothy encounters Renard the king of foxes..
having a bit of a twisted sense of humour i searched further and found that the world is full of foxy things and the one that bent me backwards with laughter was the new tram line in Seattle...namely the ...South Lake Union Trolley.....S.L.U.T and the locals were asked what they really needed ..their reply being housing but as all those stupid men and woman in power...why we ever put them there,decided the best thing for the residents of Seattle would be a Tram....known today by the locals.....Question: hey what are u doing?...hmm i am waiting for the S.L.U.T...(foxy whatever)...and here i give the link to read the whole story and its all true..........Seattle
As to the coffee set be assured i will be asking a ...`foxy...`price for this amazing set as i am sure it will whip up a whole lot of interest.The perfect gift...as christmas is around the corner for some foxy lady to give to a foxy gent in Jura or Zurich (inwohners) as so often we have seen foxes in the suburbs of Zurich and there are plenty of red foxes in the Jura.

THE JASBA FACTORY.

This factory was started by Jacob Schwaderlapp in the early 20thc which was a high producer with a large range of moulded patterns.The main designer being Cilli Wörsdöfer.(mark hill) and then Christiane Reuter came along and stayed with the concern for many years.
Perhaps this is the one factory that had produced the bizzarre vases and jugs with pre historic animal motifs and a plethora of articles that would induce a client to buy as their colors were bight and the shapes having well formed necks and rims.
The base clay is white and more often than not that name is raised in an oval with numbers.
Mostly i have examples with a range of paper labels....one wonders whether people ever used these items.One will also notice that they produced some complex shapes ranging from floor vases/jugs to the usual sizes and here the majority in muted colors.
The very bright colors of Jasba really stand on their own as well as the textures used.Most of the articles are well finished right down to the neat and clean foot of the articles...as yet to find a shabby piece.
As so many factories had different markings so did Jasba and to find all these marks described i would suggest that purchase a bookalogue by Mark Hill...not a train smash when it comes to price but certainly informative.....see links on right.
Then there is the forum that one can visit and they are really very friedly and generous with the help given.Also ask when the new book will be out...a big publication i believe.......see link on right forum.
I had a stunning piece,in my opinion, in the shop window last wekk and some clown ,either drunk or drugged out, wrote on the window,where the vase stood...GROSS!!
And then we hear...what is the difference between a fat lava vase and taste....lipstick...hmmm one wonders if from now on the lousy sticky gooie stuff will take the world by storm.So back to the pigs....ooops fat lava vases.
Here are a few examples.....

Please also vist the..............Shop Jasba..............

and if u wish to visit the newly opened ...GOLDEN FROG...Fashionable Antiques...201 Birmensdorfstrasse Kreis 3 Zurich....079 304 6892 for Swedish furniture and collectibles(1950/70s) as well as a large range of English antiques and collectibles.

Dümler &Breiden

This factory joined the boom during the 1950s with their new shapes and designs by the two brothers Peter & Albert Breiden.They were big in production late 19thc and into the early 20thc but the range that we are discussing is that of the mid 20thc.
Like Ceramano there is a shortage of good examples from Dümler & Breiden as they were not market leaders at the time.
Designers included Ernst Dümler ,Paul Zimmerling and later rudolf Christmann.
The factory marks are rather distinctive having name and numbers impressed in the base ,clay which was always white.Various paper labels were used ..see photo example.The two crossed `swords`with the D B added to the base of the swords and with the numbers used by the factory.
Studio pieces are to be found but then they are rather like hens teeth....here is an example with the wording Studio.....................................................................................................................................In the last three years i have only found two of these so perhaps they exported them to the Americas or elsewhere.In the 60s the company introduced a copper glaze that when held in the light shows up like glitter and certainly gives movement to the articles.............The fat lava vases also have a gritty sand like lava and these appear mostly on jugs that i have found.
Here i must say that a lot of D&B articles were not always impressed with the crossed swords mark but then again if u visit the forum here u will be able to ask for advice about your special find.....
Dümler & Breiden also produced large table lamps and here again its the glaze that will tell u D&B as in gereral these are not marked...if fact the ones i have found are all without markings.
On the one hand we say the piece is too small to put a marking on and then we find these huge pieces with plenty of space,...and yell still no markings!
The standard of D&B was very high and with a lot of subdued colors and simple patterns...not so desireable by the reto collectors...but then again there was demand as a lot can be found whilst the studio pieces remain elusive.
The links to the right hand page will inform you further all u need to do ...is a click away!
The shop also has some stock for u to browse.
Then a small reminder that the new Golden Frog `fashionable antiques`store has opened its doors at 201 Birmensdorfstrasse Kreis 3 Zurich.....079 304 6892 and is well worth a visit for furniture light fittings and collectibles 1950/70s as well as a wide choice of English collectibles-here one can always strike a bargain.
See u there.