West German Pottery: Autumnal Colours
Posted: October 6, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized, West German Pottery | Tags: autumn, Carstens, dumler and breiden, fat lava, halloween, Mulled wine, pottery, Pumpkin, Scheurich, west german ceramics, West German Pottery 4 Comments »There is a definite chill in the air now and that lovely October feeling is starting to steal over me. I adore this time of year: Hallowe’en, Bonfire Night, leaves falling from the trees, woolly scarves and hats, mulled wine. Although we’re still decorating like mad – which means I can’t create my usual Autumn display with West German Pottery, conkers, twigs and pumpkins – I can still select and show off some of the more seasonally-coloured pottery we’ve collected over the years.
We’re hoping to get the majority of the decorating done this week; finishing just before we go off on holiday for a week. Perhaps when we come back I can create some kind of display for Hallowe’n. It’d be lovely to get some of these pieces of pottery out and use them. I feel like they’ve been boxed away for so long!
Suggestions for West German Pottery decorative uses:
- Go for a long walk and collect twigs of varying lengths and crooked shapes. Place inside tall, thin pots as they are or spray paint gold or black for a more Hallowe’en-like effect.
- WGP dishes can hold conkers, both shells and the nuts; dried orange peel and cloves
- Select pumpkin shaped pots to make a display on a sideboard – Scheurich balloon vases are good for this. Intersperse with real pumpkins and squashes.
- For a Hallowe’en party, choose dark coloured pots and cover them with fake cobwebs.
- Use your rumtopf or D&B Saturn punch bowl to hold mulled wine – you never know when you’ll need a cupful!
Please leave any further suggestions for Autumnal decorative ideas in the comments – how are you going to use your pottery this season?
Halloween 2010
Our display from a couple of years ago… Our friend, Dan, is trying to light his first ever carved pumpkin. Cobwebbed and be-twigged pottery provide the background to his sex-pumpkin!
Posing the Pottery
Posted: August 28, 2012 Filed under: Ebay Watch, West German Pottery | Tags: Carstens, Ceramic glaze, Ebay, keramik, pottery, Scheurich, West German Pottery 1 Comment »Aidan’s been getting more elaborate with his West German Pottery displays over the last two weeks, thinking up more unusual ways to show off the items for sale on his Ebay listings:
West German Pottery ending 29th August
From L-R starting at the top: Hutschenreuther, Italian Bitossi style vase, Jasba N Series ‘Moon’ vase, Scheurich 267 Prisma, U Keramik, Scheurich 231, 1950s Jasba, and Bay Keramik
West German Pottery ending Wednesday 5th September
From top to bottom then L-R: Carstens plant pot, unknown black and red plant pot, unknown ‘drippy’ plant pot, Winterling bamboo porcelain vase, Jopeko vase/plant pot, unknown red and brown plant pot, Scheurich 238-18, Schlossberg 270-15, Schlossberg 259-11, Carstens, Scheurich 284 ‘Balloon’ vase, ES Keramik, Italian Pottery Studio piece.
There are some particularly stunning glazes and designs on the latest batch, showing off once again the scope and diversity of West German pottery. None of these would fit into the so-called ‘Fat Lava’ style, but there are many stunning shapes, colours, forms and glazes to be seen here.
Weekly Sales: West German Pottery
Posted: August 14, 2012 Filed under: West German Pottery | Tags: Carstens, Ceramic glaze, Ebay, fat lava, keramik, pottery, Roth, Scheurich, West German Pottery, West Germany 2 Comments »The latest batch will be ending tomorrow night. I say this every time, but there really are some gems amongst this lot. See if you can spot what they are:
One of my favourites ending tomorrow night is this unusual Roth pot:
Roth 8304
Despite what it says in the listing ( I did it…) it is actually quite a rare form; we’ve not seen one of these before. I used Aidan’s previous listing to help me write it and kept ‘a well collected form’, thinking it was a piece of his sales patter… apparently, it’s quite unknown so a more accurate description might be ‘a well searched for’ form. Oh well… the collectors will know their stuff well enough to appreciate it! The glaze is amazing: vibrant, bold and striking. Roth are a company who produced such a plethora of different forms, glazes and colours. Usually, I’m not such a fan, but I do find this one quite appealing.
Just to show my erratic taste, I also love the colours of the glaze on this Scheurich 238:
Scheurich 238
Look at the turquoise and silver against the pale grey of that Scheurich pot! We’re in the process of doing up our house, and we’ve got a few old decorating books from the 1950s to use as inspiration. In one of them, it advocates using unusual things to inspire your colour schemes, such as flowers or favourite pictures. This pot would be a brilliant colour palette for a room! Or nails! I might have to paint my nails in something resembling this pattern tomorrow. I should explain that I’m a little bit obsessed with nail varnish, so I should have the colours to create this somehow.
One of the most exciting pieces we’ve put up for sale for a long time is this Otto Keramik piece:
Otto Keramik
Now, for quite a while I was adamant that we couldn’t possibly sell this one. The shape! The colours! The ridiculously drippy, metallic red glaze! But, as all obsessive collectors know, eventually you have to make choices about what to keep and what to sell. Sadly, it has been usurped by other pretenders to the West German crown. At least the beauty of Ebay – and the field we are working and collecting within – is that you know that when it does sell it will be going to someone who will love it, cherish it and hopefully give it pride of place in their homes. Otto are a pretty stupendous company, with pieces brimming with originality and individuality and this one is certainly no exception. The founder of the company, Otto Gerharz, was very interested in the technical development of glazes and I think you can see this in the complexities of the glaze here.
So, those are my picks of the pottery bunch – which ones do you rate? Or even, which do you hate? WGP is an exciting field that divides opinion and can spark an extreme reaction one way or another. What does it provoke in you?
Items Ending Wednesday 15th August:
Items ending Wednesday 15th August
Items Ending Wednesday 22nd August:
Items ending Wednesday 22nd August
Just in case you missed the links scattered throughout, you can view the entire collection for sale here.
New pieces of West German Pottery are listed every Sunday evening between 7 and 8pm to end 10 days later.
Pottery for Sale
Posted: July 20, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized, West German Pottery | Tags: Carstens, ceramics, Ebay, fat lava, lora, Scheurich, West German Pottery 2 Comments »There are some stunners amongst the latest batch of West German Pottery for sale on Aidan’s Ebay (if I do say so myself!). Scheurich glazes, even the most simple ones, deserve some appreciation. Last week I looked at the Scheurich Lora glaze; there’s one for sale here which is a particularly striking piece. I also like the bold orange and black of the 401-20.
Even just this small selection of West German pottery shows the variety available: form, colour, glaze; all can vary drastically from one piece to the next, between one factory and another.
If you’re interested in any of the pots you see in the slideshow, have a look at Aidan’s ebay page here.
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Pots and Pots
Posted: April 8, 2012 Filed under: West German Pottery | Tags: Bay Keramik, Carstens, fat lava, Roth, Ruscha, Scheurich, west german ceramics, West German Pottery Leave a comment »Time for a bit of self promotion, I think. I don’t do this very often, as he has his own website, but I do like to show off some of Aidan’s pottery every now and then. Tonight he’s uploading some more lovely pots and as he’s spent this entire Easter weekend doing essential D.I.Y. to our house, the least I can do is help promote his business. Feast your eyes on the West German pottery below and if you fancy bidding on any, make sure you click on his Ebay link here.
Colours of Spring
Posted: March 22, 2012 Filed under: West German Pottery | Tags: Carstens, ceramics, green, pottery, Scheurich, spring, West German Pottery, yellow 8 Comments »
Spring Greens - West German Pottery
The new season has prompted me to get blogging again. As many experienced bloggers probably now, once you’ve had a break, it can sometimes be difficult to get back into it again. Add dark nights to make taking pictures difficult, long working hours and a lack of inspiration and the problem is just compounded.
Yesterday was a particularly lovely day and fortunately, thanks to my lovely boyfriend, I’ve got some pretty pictures of pottery in spring colours for you to ogle:
Yellow (ish) Germany Pottery
The majority of these have come from the last trip to Deutschland. We still can’t quite believe just how much we brought back this time. Every time someone comes to visit, they get hauled out into the garage like it’s a prize pig… prize pottery at least.
Aidan’s posed the green selection in front of a massive pile of logs that he’s built in our back garden:
Aidan's trademark wonky angle photograph...
This wood was compiled by my dad when he found out we were getting a wood-burning stove… he started about three weeks ago. I received several phone calls from my Mum about this, that went a bit like this:
“Can you hurry up and get your stove fitted, please Emma?”
Me: “Why?”
“Because your Dad has bought himself a chainsaw to cut up logs with and has destroyed both the back garden and the front one with logs, trees and sawdust.”
He’d tidied up a bit when we went round at the weekend, but there was still a huuuuge pile of logs and wood to be sorted out. Not that we minded at all: we’ve now got enough wood to keep us going until this time next year, I’m sure of it. And he’s sent me a picture today of yet some more he’s got for us. Amazing.
Another look at the yellows...
I’m not usually a big fan of yellow pottery, but mingled in with the greens – and, to be honest, not being particularly yellow yellow – these look quite lovely. I also like the contrast of the purple flowers on the bush behind with these colours.
It’s probably a good job that Aidan has found another use for the pile of logs. If this warm weather continues, we’re unlikely to actually use the new stove much once it’s installed. At least that job will be done and should give us the impetus to start other renovations and decorations.
Which is your favourite pot from the ones in the pictures? Mine’s the green and black, 1950s style Carstens in the green selection, and the fairly neon U-Keramik piece at the front of the yellow picture.
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Pots and Pots
Posted: January 24, 2012 Filed under: West German Pottery | Tags: Carstens, ceremano, Dumler & Breiden, fat lava, potsandpots.com, pottery, Scheurich, West German, west german ceramics, West German Pottery 2 Comments »If you’ve not visited it already, you need to get yourself over to Potsandpots.com. Aidan has spent many hours putting this together and the results are – not that I’m biased at all – a fantastic resource for the West German Pottery collector.
For each of the major West German Pottery manufacturers, he’s compiled a gallery of all of the pieces we have ever owned or sold and placed them into number order. As we find more and more, the galleries will be updated. This allows any collector to quickly skim through and identify a pot. It’s not as all-encompassing as the Pottery and Glass forum, for example, but it is an excellent reference point for the burgeoning collector. We both use it ourselves when trying to identify our own pottery!
Other features are tips and hints on how to identify the different factories; histories of the major factories; and a blog based around West German pottery price trends, where it’s been spotted and so on.
The blog covers the average price trends of WGP, which can be really useful if you’re deciding whether to keep or sell a piece!
If you need any help or information, visit Potsandpots.com and leave Aidan a comment. Alternatively, email him at: info (at) potsandpots.com.
We’re heading off to Germany again in a couple of weeks’ time, so expect an influx of pottery posts both on here and over there.
Christmas Coloured Ceramics
Posted: December 7, 2011 Filed under: West German Pottery | Tags: ankara, Carstens, Ceramic Art and Pottery, pottery, Scheurich, West German, West German Pottery, West Germany Leave a comment »What can I say? It’s as good an excuse as any to show off pictures of West German Pottery…
This year, I’ve not asked for any particular pieces of pottery; mainly because we have so much already. Obviously, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at a Scheurich 414 or a Carstens Ankara piece…
If you’re interested in finding out more about West German Pottery, my partner, Aidan, has been working very hard on a website called Potsandpots.com. It’s definitely worth having a look. I know I’m biased, but I do think it’s rather good!
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Pottery for Sale
Posted: November 29, 2011 Filed under: West German Pottery | Tags: Carstens, christmas, Dumler & Breiden, Ebay, fat lava, jasba, pottery, Roth, Scheurich, west german ceramics, West German Pottery, West Germany 1 Comment »As it’s now the (and I hate saying this) run-up to Christmas, we’re having a big push on Aidan’s Ebay, selling lots of West German Pottery. There are all kinds of pots for sale:
As with all of his Ebay listings, Aidan takes a lot of time to ensure that the pictures are truly representative of the colours, designs and proportions of the pots. Listings always include a detailed description of the items – any tiny blemish is described, and he does have eagle eyes! He spots things that I cannot see, even when he’s pointed them out to me. So you can be sure that if you buy something from us, what you see is most definitely what you get.
Some of my particular favourites from this week and next are these:
Roth Fat Lava Jug
Just look at the glaze on that! It’s an amazing texture; crusty, thick and bursting with colour. ‘Fat Lava’ could not be a more appropriate way to describe it.
Remember ‘nu rave’? No, me neither, but the neon/rave scene will always have a place in popular culture. Why not pay homage to it with this:
Jasba Neon Rave Pottery!
N3221120 Jasba for sale
Those designers really did take their inspiration from anywhere, didn’t they?
If ever there were a ‘man’ vase, this one would be it:
Man Vase
“You Jane, Me Great Big Man Vase…” There’s definitely something very masculine and tribal about it. It looks like it should be dug up out of a pit, storing the brains of some long dead pharaoh or emperor. Maybe that’s just my imaginative interpretation of it!
D&B Psychedelic Punch Bowl
D&B Saturn Punch Bowl for sale
I’ll be honest; I’m not sure how Aidan persuaded me to part with that punch bowl! I love it. Imagine having your mulled wine out of that this Christmas? Would certainly be a talking point amongst your relatives and a fantastic way to initiate them into the West German pottery fold.
"It ended on an oily vase..."
I’ll give a pound to anyone who can get the British Sea Power reference in my caption…
I’m worried that beautiful Scheurich will get overshadowed by its more gaudy cousins. The glaze on this is beautiful: subtle, swirled green covered in a silver, metallic oil. It was difficult to capture truly on pictures, but I think Aidan did a good job of getting it just right.
So, those are my favourites that are up for sale over the next two weeks. If you fancy having a look (and even having a bid), click here.
West German Pottery for sale ending 7th Dec
Autumnal Pottery
Posted: October 21, 2011 Filed under: West German Pottery | Tags: Bay, Bonfire Night, Carstens, Devon, Dumler & Breiden, fat lava, Guy Fawkes Night, halloween, jasba, Jopeko, pottery, Ruscha, Scheurich, west german ceramics, West German Pottery, West Germany 1 Comment »This is one of my favourite times of the year. Once half term is over, it’s the countdown to Christmas, Halloween and Bonfire Night. There’s something about the smell in the air at this time of year: crisp, leafy, smoky… it reminds me of walking to school as a teenager, wrapped up in my thick navy school-coat and school scarf. Actually, that doesn’t sound too different from what I’m still doing now – only the colour of the scarf has changed!
Last year, I really enjoyed making an autumn display with pottery in the appropriate colours, garnished with a few pumpkins, unusual-coloured squash, twigs and dried chestnut cases. Something about West German Pottery… it lends itself so easily to a themed display; a result of the multitude of colours and cacophony of glazes.
Tomorrow morning we’re off down to Devon for a week. I am fully intending to do not much more than walking, relaxing in front of a log fire whilst reading and drinking red wine. I’ve already got my stash of books prepared…
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