A beautiful hand-thrown and hand-painted compote, cachepot, or vase created by well-known sculptor and potter Eva Fritz-Linder. It is in the form of two bowls, one larger, one smaller, attached at their bases to form a single receptacle. It can be inverted if desired.  The unique “griffin” décor wraps around both bowls. Though unmarked, it is undoubtedly the work of Fritz-Linder.

EVA FRITZ-LINDNER (1933–2017) was a celebrated folk-art sculptor and ceramicist whose work is avidly pursued today by collectors worldwide. Born in Düsseldorf in 1933, she served as an apprentice at the Werkkunstschule—the applied arts training center in Wiesbaden—from 1949 through 1954, and as a student in sculptor Erich Kuhn’s (1890–1967) master class for the last two. At the age of 22, Fritz-Lindner was awarded the Grand Prix at a 1955 exhibition in Cannes: Five Millennia of German Ceramics. Later that year, she was hired as a master designer by the State Majolica Manufactory in Karlsruhe (MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE). She remained employed there for nearly a decade, through 1963, and quickly became one of its most popular artists. Major accolades earned during this tenure were a 1958 Baden-Württemberg Arts Prize and the Silver Medal at the International Ceramics Exhibition in Prague in 1962.

Stepping out of the limelight she had never fully embraced, Fritz-Lindner withdrew to her private studio in Karlsruhe-Durlach in 1964 and started to freelance exclusively. She designed and created hundreds of ceramic folk-art sculptures rendered with creativity and whimsy. Animals (owls, in particular) and family were frequent themes. Her success led to commissions for larger works for public and private gardens and buildings; examples include mosaic wall designs in Mannheim, Schwäbisch Gmünd, and Göppingen. Of particular note were four enormous outdoor owl sculptures created for the Palace Gardens in Karlsruhe in 1967. Whatever the size of the work, Fritz-Lindner hand-painted each of her creations distinctly and colorfully. On occasion, she would supply designs for glassworks to be produced in Murano, Italy. Fritz-Lindner died in 2017.

Fritz-Lindner’s ceramics are held in numerous prestigious institutions, including the Hetjens-Museum Düsseldorf, the Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, the Württemberg State Museum Stuttgart, and the Museo National de Cerámica Valencia, as well as in public gardens and private collections throughout the world.

MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE (MANUFACTORY) was established by Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden (1826–1907) in 1901, at the behest of its founders, artists Wilhelm Süs (1861–1933) and Hans Thoma (1839–1924). An “idyllic” spot was chosen in the Duke’s residential city, near the palace gardens, a location designed to be a point of cultural interest. The connection would be highlighted for the plant’s centennial by the installation of a “blue ray” (Blauer Strahl in German), a path of blue majolica ceramic tiles physically connecting the palace tower to the factory. Walking the vibrant light blue path allows visitors to follow the historical axis from the center of princely political power to the site of artistic production.

Süs and Thoma had the intent of reviving the “majolica,” or faience technique, where opaque, tin-based glazes were applied to earthenware to serve as a canvas for colored decoration. (The “tin” glaze used in majolica is, in reality, a lead glaze that has been rendered white and opaque by the addition of tin oxide. In majolica’s production process, unglazed articles are first fired and then dipped in the “tin” glaze, which is allowed to dry. Designs are then painted on the glaze, which sets them off and preserves them during a second, high-temperature firing.) They initially focused on producing ceramics in the Italian Renaissance style, a choice influenced by their shared background and Süs’s prior experience running a ceramics studio. Towards the end of the decade, a signature style emerged—elaborate compositions, often including cherubim, on blue backgrounds.

A note on terminology: What is referred to here as “majolica,” after the German usage, is often called “maiolica” in English, to distinguish it from the Victorian-era, mass-produced earthenware that uses a clear, colored lead glaze applied over a molded relief body, fired only once. The confusion associated with these naming conventions is long-standing!

MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE passed through various hands in the following years, at one time being occupied by Villeroy & Boch, with the premises being owned by the state of Baden. (The formal name Staatliche Majolika Manufaktur Karlsruhe was adopted in 1927 to indicate state ownership.) Despite the specificity of its name, MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE produced a wide range of artisan ceramics and was one of Germany’s leading producers of ceramics generally. The quality of production was excellent. Top designers before WWII included Ludwig König (1891–1974) and Max Läuger (1864–1952).

The factory was badly damaged by bombs in 1944 and did not return to the full-time production of decorative goods until the 1950s. By then, business had resumed much as in pre-war days, with both company-employed and freelance designers. One of the foremost post-war designers was Friedegart Glatzle (b. 1920), who joined MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE in 1951, and who, over the next 30 years, produced a huge range of designs. Her work is highly collectible. Other designers of this period included luminaries Eva Fritz-Lindner (1933–2017) and Werner Meschede (1925–1981). The company provided its artists with their own studio space, commissioning their activity.

Most MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE pieces bear the company’s name and symbol—the arms of Baden above a double-joined ‘M’ for Majolika-Manufaktur. Items are made with red-orange clay and are marked with a form number. Product examples can be seen at the Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe.

The commercial production side of MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE permanently ceased operations at the end of 2024 due to financial difficulties. The site now primarily functions as a museum, hosting a foundation for the promotion of the ceramic arts.

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