Retro Pottery Net

Taroline Poland

2013-05-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

I found this stunning looking retro coffee set from Poland last week in an auction. The colours and motif grabbed me straight away - such an intense red and orange - set off by the bright white porcelain and gold trim. Very elegant shapes too. It would have to be 1960s or 1970s with these colours and the style of motif. It is stamped with the maker "Taroline" Poland, but I haven't been able to

Auction Watch 66

2013-05-19T01:36:00.000-07:00

At first I couldn't see much of interest this week, but as per usual - on a second or third look through the catalogues and in person there are some real gems to be had. May not be purchasing much though, as I have been spending way too much lately I think - need to sell a bit more first :) The decoration on this quite old Gustaveberg vase is superb, and a lot more blue in reality.

A Beth Breyen Dish

2013-05-18T01:12:00.000-07:00

I found this lovely dish by Beth Breyen a few weeks ago. It has a pattern of hers which I haven't seen previously. A lovely flower motif which actually uses the same shapes as the "feathers" on many of her bird designs. Obviously part of the Tenera range from the 1960s - and this one stamped with the Royal Copenhagen logo and her cypher. There is some quite lovely detailing of tiny yellow dots

4 x Arabia Finland Finds

2013-05-15T22:51:00.001-07:00

There were quite a few small lots of Arabia Finland pieces at auctions this week, and these are some of the more interesting ones I got hold of apart from run-of-the-mill "replacement stock" The first is a very large fruit or salad bowl, hand painted with a simple butterscotch coloured design, but despite looking through over 1,000 Arabia pattern names I cant locate this one anywhere - has

Scheurich Red Lava

2013-05-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

Just look at the glaze on this superb piece of West German Pottery!! - Scheurich, which I picked up on Monday. One of the loveliest looking pieces of West German Pottery I have had in a while, and a lovely size too. Its amazing how much difference colour can make to a form - the red and dark brown colours on this form, combined with the texture of the lava makes it all sing. This form 428-26 is

Midwinter Riverside

2013-05-13T21:21:00.001-07:00

I found this part dinner setting of Midwinter "Riverside" a few weeks ago at an auction sitting in a dark corner. The shapes are what took my eye as I instantly recognised them as by Midwinter, in the very Modernist looking Fashion shape c 1960. The Riverside pattern was design by John Russell, and is said to be the most commonly found Midwinter design. It was very popular, being in production

Auction Watch 65

2013-05-12T00:21:00.000-07:00

There is a great choice of items and price ranges this week from pieces which I have initially screened from two auction catalogues ...as possibilities. Quite a few Danish and Arabia pieces, and hopefully a few bargains to be had which I haven't yet identified :) . Im always attracted to the glass pieces, but have been bitten so many times with glass - it is so hard to find a piece with no damage

Australian Studio Pottery - John Garrett

2013-05-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

How amazingly decorated is this piece of pottery!! It stood out like a beacon when I saw it in a cabinet for auction this week, and when I got it home and cleaned it it was even more spectacular. It seems to have been incised with lino carving tools, and simply coloured with black and brown oxides. Terracotta clay, fired to stoneware temperature. If It weren't for the base signature I

Royal Albert - South Pacific

2013-05-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

Aren't these colours absolutely amazing! Incredibly saturated hues like I've never seen before on ceramics. They were one of my purchases from this week on my list of "wants"....I had to fight for them a bit, but I think you can see why. The bright colours, black and white pattern, combined with the shapes all comes together to create a retro classic design I think. That orange is so bright it

Czech Art Deco Vase

2013-05-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I picked up this amazing Art Deco era Czech pottery vase which was in a bay lot of junk now destined for the rubbish bin..... but it was worth it. Such a fantastic looking piece with its ziggerat style steps, flared shape and the the lovely lace like "wings". The glaze on this piece is typical of the pieces that seem to pop up here every so often - Im not 100% sure of the maker, but

Auction Watch 64

2013-05-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

There isn't a huge amount to choose from this week - but my favourite items are the Royal Albert retro pieces from the 1950s, in the first image. The colours are much brighter and intense than they appear in the photo - and the design is called "South Pacific". The black and white pattern of the saucers and plates matching the cups is fantastic too. It has a very "tribal" hand drawn appearance

Two stunning Rorstrand Cups

2013-04-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't purchased anything this week, but I found these 2 lovely Rorstrand designs recently. They both have a lovely hand-drawn and graphic quality about them which I'm always attractted to. The first is called "Berit", design by Berit Ternell - I would love to find more pieces in this design to see how it looks on larger pieces. And the second is "Meteor" - I havent identified a

Auction Watch 63

2013-04-28T00:03:00.001-07:00

Not much in the way of Scandinavian pieces this week - apart from a few Holmgaard items. Some interesting, weird, and wonderful pieces for all types of collectors though :) An amazing looking West German Vase - of huge proportions Another nice looking West German Piece. A number of these lovely SHELLEY - Art Deco era pieces on offer this week Lovely Amber colourings

Figgjo Market Salad Bowl

2013-04-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

Until about a week ago I didn't know this piece existed - I saw a photo of it in an auction catalogue, and thought it was just a variation of the large figgjo soup bowls - but it turned out to be a very large, and solid Salad Bowl. - about 22cm in diameter and 15-16cm high. I was lucky enough to grab hold of it at auction this week. On research I found that originally this piece was part of a

Ditmar Urbach Czech Pottery

2013-04-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

You might remember these images from earlier on this year. As usually happens ....most pottery eventually yields its secrets.These pieces turn out to be from Ditmar Urbach, Czechoslovakia. I noticed one almost identical to one of these in an eBay search I have set up which popped up today - and it has the backstamp. Once you have a name it is so much easier to find out information!. I

Rorstrand Linda

2013-04-22T18:30:00.003-07:00

A nice little piece with a great design - not your typical Scandinavian colours - but the Swedish seem to use a larger colour palette than many others. The piece is from Rorstrand, and the pattern or design is called Linda. This pattern name was used twice by Rorstrand from what I can find - the other was a much older traditional floral motif.

Royal Copenhagen Tea Caddy 258/5579

2013-04-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

I didn't know what this piece was as first as it was described as a "ginger jar" when I bought it at auction a while ago....but due to the magic of the Internet I just typed in its design and shape number and it popped up in of all places, The Victoria & Albert Museum in London, will all it's associated information. It turns out it is a tea caddy from a series called "Floreana" in 1982 designed

Auction Watch 62

2013-04-20T23:40:00.000-07:00

Some really interesting smaller bits and pieces of really good vintage design coming up this week - from two auctions I have images from. If I miss out on some there are plenty of others to keep me going :) . I just noticed we have gone over 500,000 views, WOW..... Thank you all so much for reading, following and finding and interacting with this blog..it has become a community in itself :)

Soholm Sunflower, Space age

2013-04-19T00:26:00.001-07:00

Two new Soholm finds. The first - a "Sunflower" vase I have been wanting to get hold of for ages - they are really hard to get hold of. I love everything about this design - the shapes, the colours, the wonderful motifs. I can't find out who designed it though - as there isn't much information out there on the design. It is signed at the base though with ILS - an initial I haven't seen before.

Etsy Watch 2 - Have you met Thomas?

2013-04-16T23:24:00.000-07:00

I am finding so many fantastic things on Etsy and have "favourited" so many items I though I had better start keeping track of some of them! - so I have started some "Treasuries" which I will post a link to on here in my "Etsy Watch". Each treasury on Etsy is configured to fit 16 items - and in each of these posts I will put up 7 or so images, but just click on the link below to see them all -

Soholm - Noomi & Finne

2013-04-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

I have only recently come across this design series from Soholm - a joint design by Noomi Backhausen and Arne Finne. It is from 1984. It doesnt seem to have a name, but it has a characteristic look of the rich iron oxide colourings on a pale yellow glaze with quite deeply carved motifs in a steely dark greyish blue. It has an almost Mexican vibe to it - which was very popular at the time.

Auction Watch 61

2013-04-14T01:30:00.003-07:00

Auction Watch 61 already! Not many of the type of things I buy coming up this week, but a few interesting pieces as always. The Carlton Ware and Clarice Cliff pieces seem to be the pick of the bunch - and always popular. The huge range of Clarice Cliff's styles of work never ceases to amaze me too - from the highly decorative to the abstract. A very nice Carlton Ware Rouge Royal Spider plate

Kari Christensen Salt Box

2013-04-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

Its been a week of salt boxes! This lovely one I found locally - its a such a striking design. At first I thought it was an Inge Lisse Koefoed piece, because the motif in the middle was often used by Inge-Lisse .... but it is actually a Kari Christensen design - pattern number 158. They are such versatile pieces - one that I have already I use as it was intended, for salt..... and another for

Carlton Ware - New Violets

2013-04-09T20:06:00.002-07:00

Another recent find. This lovely little vase is Carlton Ware - in the New Violets pattern (4374) in production 1951 to 1961. I have a soft spot for Carlton Ware when I find an interesting piece - particularly wares from this era. There is something about the lovely dreamy pastel colours used in the 1950s that makes this era immediately recognisable too. The style of it reminds me of the

Arabia Finland Salt Box

2013-04-09T01:15:00.000-07:00

I'm always fascinated by co-incidence. I came across the superb piece of Arabia Finland below - A salt box by Gunvor Olin Gronqvist while I was looking around Etsy yesterday. Such an amazing looking piece, and I never knew these boxes came with a little salt scoop as well - I guess most are long gone and broken. The bold folk art meets modernist design stands out like a beacon. THEN, today I