Schmider fish 1950s. Love those lips.

Don't you just love those lips.

Here's a quirky item from the mid-1950s. A wonderful spotty fish with green fins and bright red lips.

I think it was originally designed to be used as an ashtray and was made by Schmider, West Germany.

According to Petra on Pottery, this is a design by Anneliese Beckh, Schmiders main designer between 1950 and 1983.

I don't often come across Schmider pottery but I did do a posting on a couple of items from the Tigris range some time ago: Tigris cats

Three Scheurich retro winter warmers

 

Something to add a bit of warmth to a winter day.

There are Dancing flames, fire-red colours and bubbling lava flows on these vintage West German vases.

I have an idea they are all by Scheurich and they probably date from the 1960s or 1970s. Grouped together, they certainly help to warm up a retro-styled interior.

There seems a lot more information available on West German pottery these days - and some very keen collectors. There are some amazing images and lots of good info on one of my favourite blogs, here: Blurat West German pottery

Schmider Tigris cat vase

Dating from the 1950s and 1960s, these striking black and yellow pots are easy to spot. The shiny glaze and the painted wavy yellow lines on the black background make them unmissable.

The range is Tigris, designed by Anneliese Beckh for West German pottery manufacturer, Schmider.

The shapes and colour combinations are so typical of the 1950s, remember Elegance by Hornsea Pottery, England from the same era: Hornsea elegance

I like the stylish, simplified shape of the cat vase.

A knobbly bobbly West Geman Carstens vase.

We like knobbly bobbly surfaces on our retro vases, don't we?

Yes we do. And you get plenty of knobbly bits for your money on this one – it's over one foot (30cm) tall.

This chunk of 3D retro styling is by Carstens, West Germany. The vase is made up of three cylinder shapes. The middle one has a glossy honey-coloured glaze and those wacky, almost mushroom shaped, bobbles. Judging by the style, the vase is probably from the 1960s or early 1970s.

OK, it may be a little 'over-the-top' but I like this vase. I can see why the symmetrical, sculptural shape would appeal to interior designers. It would be perfect to help create a stylish mid-century look.

There's more information on Carstens West German pottery and their designers here: Carstens at Retropolitan

Scheurich West Germany Fat Lava vase passes the test

When it comes to the West German pottery known as Fat Lava, there's such a huge range of design styles and colour schemes, it's difficult to know where to start. If you tried to collect everything you found with West Germany on the base, you'd soon run out of space to keep it all.

For that reason, I've tried to limit the numbers of Fat Lava items in the Potshots collection. I decided to pick up only the pieces that really appealed to me – to restrict myself to items that are particularly pleasing on the eye.

This tall blue vase I found recently, certainly passed the test. I like the tall, narrow shape with the flared neck. The strands of thick orange 'lava' glaze have a texture almost like orange peel and they contrast perfectly with the deep blue and cool grey of the background.

The vase is marked W GERMANY 520 22 on the base. I think this is the mark for Scheurich, West Germany. I would say the vase is from the 1960s.

You can find lots more 'lava' on this excellent blog: Blurat blog