Arabia Lustre Ware

It's always a rewarding experience to get emails from readers, and see photos of their finds appearing in the forum. I get quite a few emails every week from people who are otherwise not collectors, but find something they just have to have.....which leads them on a search...often leading them to this blog :)

 

It's great to know that besides being useful information for me to have at my fingertips....that other people are finding the information on this blog so useful.

 

As an example, I got such a delightful email from Marianne in Holland recently, that I thought I would share (with her permission of course)

In the search for more information about my recent purchase, a 1917-1927 Arabia lustre ware vase (model no. 229), I ran into your blog. I really recognized the feeling you described when telling about the beauty of the Arabia lustre ware glazing.

When I was on holiday in Denmark this summer I was in a shop where I got drawn like a magnet towards the class cabinet where this vase was on display. It is surprising because I am not a pottery collector at all. The glaze made me think of the birth of our universe, (well perhaps sounds a bit dramatic! but that was the way it felt.). I just had to take it home.

It was only when I came home that night that I noticed the Arabia stamp on the bottom. Only a few days earlier I had heard of Arabia for the first time in my life when my aunt told me she collects Ruska Arabia items. From the stamp-page on the official Arabia website I learned that my vase was quite old, something I hadn't realized.

Anyhow, this vase is so beautiful and even the pictures I made cannot show its real beauty. But I thought you might want to have a look at it so I attached a picture. They are not professional pics but I hope you'll pick up some of the character of this vase.

Regards from Holland,

Marianne.

I agree so much with Marianne that the Lustre ware glaze on this series of early Arabia Wares are so similar to photos you see of the birth of stars and the universe.

 

On each piece the glaze is different, and each one suggests different things to you. When you come across one, its very hard to ignore!

 

Thanks again to Marianne, and everyone to writes to me about their finds. If anyone has some special pieces and a story they would like to share, or a collection they would like to showcase - please fell free to contact me.

 

You can see my posts on the same lustre vases HERE

 

 

A Lapid Find

I found these 2 striking pieces of Lapid pottery on eBay recently, and they look even better in real life. I thought I had seen just about every pattern in Lapid - but this one is completely new to me.

Besides great geometric designs with a colour scheme that almost looks Art Deco - (but are probably from the early 1970's) the main body glaze is a beautiful hard semi-gloss the same texture as an emu or ostrich egg....so lovely to touch.

A nice addition to my ever growing Lapid collection.  Look at all my other Lapid posts HERE.

Isobel Australia - Retro Ramekins

I found 4 quite interesting ramekins in a bay lot of mainly junk at an auction a few weeks ago. Something about them attracted me, but I didn't expect to find much about them...as they were simply marked to the bottom Isobel - Australia.

Fortunately though because of the wonder of the Internet, and collectors and modern day historians like Judith at Bemboka Pottery in Australia, who's knowledge base of Australian pottery is ever growing - I found all about "Isobel"pottery:

Isobel Art Pottery was a pottery in Croydon, Melbourne, active from the early 1960s to the mid 1970s. It produced slip cast wares, many hand painted with flowers, fruit or Aboriginal motifs by Helen Ilich (1914-1996), a Croatian-born self-taught artist who had migrated to Melbourne with her two children in 1955 to join her husband there. Ilich worked as a decorator for Ellis Ceramics and Guy Boyd Pottery as well as for Isobel. In the late 1960s, she joined the Heidelberg District Artists' Society and taught painting from her home, where she also completed a range of still lives, landscapes and portraits.... Works from this pottery may be signed 'H. Ilich', 'Isobel' or 'Isobel Australia'.

 

I know many readers of this blog follow Judith's Australian Pottery blog - but if you haven't been there yet - please go visit - it is a such valuable resource along with some great items for sale in the shop online.

 

Isobel Australia - Ramekin - Mid 1960's

 

Scherzer Bavaria - Germany: Retro Pieces

I picked up these very Retro looking pieces of porcelain in a group lot last week at Auction, along with the Lord Nelson pieces from the last post.

They are by Scherzer Germany, which was founded in 1880 and operated up until about 1992 - you can read about the history of the company here . I had a look on eBay and there were quite a few pieces of Scherzer listed, but I didn't see any retro style designs like these.

I love the shape of the casserole dish especially with its winged handles- such an identifiably retro shape. As well as the retro themed oranges and browns in the pattern there is some beautiful embossing to parts of the pieces as well.

Arabia Fennica - New Old Stock

I've been so busy lately I thought I had posted about this, but I hadn't. A few weeks ago at auction I managed to get a few Lots of Arabia ware, and amongst them was a set of Fennica.

Fennica was designed by Ulla Procope, and was in production from 1979-1985.  It continues with the classic shapes of the designs like Ruska, Meri, etc. The colour is very subtle - something of a light oatmeal colour probably best describes it.

This is the first time I have ever found any Arabia still in its original boxes - I can understand how archaeologist feel when they find something special!  It's just amazing to see in its original condition, and much of it still with labels even.

I have listed a lot of it in the store if anyone is interested in purchasing.

Arabia Fennica - Large Milk Jug - Ulla Procope 1979

Arabia Fennica - Fruit or Souffle bowl - Ulla Procope 1979

Arabia Fennica - Sugar Bowl - Ulla Procope 1979

Arabia Fennica - Cup & Saucer - Ulla Procope 1979

Lord Nelson - "Gaytime" - Sixties Psychedelia

I picked up these 2 cute and oh so psychedelic retro pieces at auction yesterday. The pattern is very popular, and called "Gaytime"

It is very similar to the Villeroy & Boch Acapulco pattern but with a few more pastel colours, toning it down a little.

Lord Nelson Pottery was produced by Elijah Cotton Ltd in Hanley, Staffordshire. The original factory started in 1758 and was completely rebuilt in 1885, closing in 1981.

This pattern is very popular still, and appears reasonably frequently on eBay in the U.K. The first 2 photos are of  a sugar shaker, and the second a very cute little mustard pot I got.

A real life Store! in Adelaide

For the readers of this blog in Adelaide, South Australia - or those visiting in the future - I have taken up a space (cabinet 84) at Pedlars Antique Market on Magill Road, Maylands (10 minutes from the CBD)

Pedlars is one of the larger Antique Centres in Adelaide - but of course they don't sell just Antiques but all types of collectables. Amongst the fine china, silver and furniture are quite a lot of high quality Retro and Vintage items. Upstairs there is now even a Vintage clothing store packed full of some amazing vintage clothing.

They have a new WEBSITE, and have recently started having auctions (where you are able to bid online as well)

Pedlar's also have a very impressive collection of vintage enamel advertising signs - (which reminds me I must take some photos of same for my Graphics blog)

I have a display full of many of the items that I frequently post about on here, from Vintage, to Retro, to Modernist - mainly from Scandinavian countries and the U.K. I drop in about twice a week to re-organise and re-fill so you might catch me there!

Pedlars Antique Market - 205 Magill Road, Maylands
Ph. 08 8363 0087

Midwinter Stylecraft "Hawaii" Design

I found this Midwinter dessert set of 6 bowls plus a serving bowl recently on eBay. It is in the stylecraft shape with the pattern called Hawaii. The stylecraft shapes are great - and so of their time.

The colours and pattern are so 1950's too - slightly discordant, but it all works well together. This pattern was apparently produced by Johnson Matthey & Co as "Miranda"and was also used on wares by other factories.

Denby Regency Green

A few weeks ago I picked up a few oddments of a Denby Regency Green setting and have just got around to sorting them out and cataloguing etc.

This design is from 1984 and still in production in some from I believe- although there have been small additions and deletions along the way. You can view the whole range of what pieces are available still on the DENBY site.

The favourites out of what I purchased are the egg cups (as always!) and the lovely mugs - such a lovely shape to hold in your hand. The glaze has a lovely feel as well, and I love how the bright white contrasts so nicely with the Regency Green exterior.

Jette Helleroe Denmark

I have had the lovely jug below for about a year, and wasn't able to read the full signature, but Karen in Denmark was able to decipher the name of the potter -  Jette Helleroe. 

I haven't been able to find out much about the history of Jette, but I found quite a few examples of (Her?) work on a Japanese site HERE which has lovely photos of a lot of Scandinavian design (doesn't seem to be still running though).

All of these pieces were made by Jette Helleroe for a pottery called ""BR"- not sure what that is abbreviation for though! Reminds me a little of Nissen pottery from Denmark.

I also found this lovely lamp base on a very interesting British online store called Anseta: (currently for sale)

Hornsea Nostalgia Event

Sally in the U.K. sent me information about a Hornsea nostalgia weekend in August which I posted about a few weeks ago. She has now put the photos up on her blog which Hornsea lovers will just drool over. It would have been amazing to see, swap, buy and collect from a huge range of Hornsea items. To see the whole post go to Sally's blog HERE

Here are a few finds from Sally via her blog:

Leo the Lion Mug from around 1979

These Cat Cruet sets are just adorable - design by John Clappison

This display by the Hornsea Museum would have been fascinating

with original drawings and sketches for some of the ranges.

If you know of any events like this coming up in your area I would love to hear from you. It is not just people in your area that would be interested, but I know people everywhere following this blog would be interested in what's happening around the world to do with the collection of Vintage and Retro Pottery.

The blog has readers all over the world and a readership now of over 500 per day. If there was enough interest I could easily start and "Event" page, and add to it weekly or monthly.  

Flickr Forum

There are some superb pieces of pottery building up in the Flickr Forum for Retro Pottery Net - especially gorgeous West German pieces  - so if you haven't visited lately, make sure you go have a look. (Just click on the tab at the top and follow the link)

These pieces are from Beetle, who has had some fantastic charity shop and car boot finds. It's pretty rare here now to find any bargains in charity shops - as they are much more aware of the value of collectables than they were a few years ago.

This is my favourite Sheurich pattern - and always very popular.

The Colours in this piece are just amazing -

I've  never seen anything quite like it before.

Last week I showed the images of 3 Arabia Finland Cow jugs I had purchased,

but I've never seen a Cat jug until this one

 This Vallauris (French) piece is just superb
 - one I would love to have in my collection.

Lars Bergsten - Mid Century Wall Plaques

Thank you to Karen in Denmark for pointing me in the right direction, to find out more about the potter Lars Bergsten (Sweden) 1920-2011 - who's owl figurine I posted about 2 weeks ago. 

There is a website run by (a relative?) who is collecting information about his work and life, and has quite a few lovely examples of his work. Lars was a well known potter in the 1940's -1970's in Sweden, where he had his own workshop. He also worked for Upsala Ekelby for many years.  Other than this; information on his life and work is pretty thin on the ground, but there appear to be a number of people trying to put some information together.

I've chosen a few of my favourite wall plaques from the website. If you are into this sort of thing, or figurines of animals and people in this style - do make sure to visit the site as there are a huge number of images posted.

If you have any pieces of Bergsten's work that aren't on the website, please contact them - as they would love to add to the knowledge base on his life and work.