This quirky handmade vase was created by Erwin Spuler in his studio at the factory workshop of MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE in 1951. Perfect condition; signed and marked on the bottom.

ERWIN SPULER (1906–1964) was born in the Bavarian city of Augsburg, Germany. He was a painter, ceramicist, graphic artist, filmmaker, and sculptor who was particularly active in the field of architectural art. From 1922 to 1923, he studied at the Württemberg State School of Applied Arts in Stuttgart under Gustav Jourdan, Alfred Lörcher, and Hans von Heider. He continued his education from 1923 to 1924 at the Badische State Art School in Karlsruhe with Georg Scholz, Karl Dillinger, and Ernst Würtenberger. In Karlsruhe, he developed a close friendship with Karl Hubbuch (1891–1979), with whom he collaborated, along with several other artists, in publishing the critical and satirical magazine "Zapko" in 1930. That same year, he received the Baden State Prize for Graphics.

From 1931 until his death, Spuler would freelance at the ceramics workshop of MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE. There, he created some very early examples of asymmetrical shapes that he coupled with emphatically modern décor designs; these would go into series production as early as 1950. In 1933, he began the photographic series 120 variationen über ein Gesicht (120 Variations on a Face).

During the war years between 1939 and 1941, Spuler also freelanced in the architecture and graphics department for UFA-Film AG Berlin. He was briefly employed as a border customs officer in the Metz district in 1941 before being called up for military service in 1942. Health problems, which included a heart attack, led to an early discharge from the Wehrmacht in 1943.

In 1948, Spuler received a teaching position for drawing and modeling in the Faculty of Architecture at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. One of his most important students there was the graphic artist and sculptor Wolfgang Trust (1926–1986).

From 1950 on, Spuler developed an increasingly abstract design language. His graphic works of the period often suggested images of bombed cities. Successful sales made it possible for him and his wife Elisabeth (née Holzwarth, whom he had married in 1939) to make long, annual trips to the Côte d'Azur starting in 1954. There he would create an extensive cycle of drawings entitled Côte d'Azur. Spuler died in 1964 in Cros-de-Cagnes, France.

MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE (MANUFACTORY) was established in 1901 by Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden (1826–1907), 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, the nexus of princely power and artistic production—a connection immortalized for the plant’s 2001 centennial by the installation of a “blue ray” (Blauer Strahl in German), a path of blue majolica tiles, physically linking the palace tower to the factory.

Süs and Thoma sought to revive the “majolica,” or faience technique, where “tin” glaze is applied to earthenware and used as a canvas for intricate colored decoration. The glaze, in reality, is a lead one, rendered white and opaque with the addition of tin oxide. Majolica’s manufacture involves dipping items in the white glaze, allowing it to dry, and then painting on designs before a second, high-temperature firing. The initial focus was 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. Eventually, MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE would become a mirror for 20^th-century artistic movements, from Art Nouveau to Bauhaus.

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!

Following revolutionary unrest at the end of WWI, popular demands for the establishment of a republic forced Grand Duke Friedrich II to abdicate, a peaceful transition and a pattern seen across all other German states. With the establishment of the Weimar Republic in 1918, the new Republic of Baden took over former royal properties, including MAJOLICA KARLSRUHE. 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 ceramic producers generally. The quality of its work 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 Fridegart Glatzle (1920–2015), who joined MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE in 1951. Over the next 30 years, she produced a huge range of designs; much of 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 marked with a form number and, with exceptions in the late 20^th, were made with red-orange clay. Product examples can be seen at the Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe.

The commercial production side of MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE officially concluded its 123-year operating history at the end of 2024, with its final collection dispersed at a historic closing auction in early 2025. The site now primarily functions as a museum, hosting a foundation for the promotion of the ceramic arts.

DETAILS

Designer – ERWIN SPULER

Design Period/Year – 1951

Origin – WEST GERMANY

Styles/Movements – ABSTRACT; MID-CENTURY MODERN

Materials – CERAMIC

Colors – LIGHT GRAY, BLACK

Condition – Excellent vintage condition. May show slight traces of wear consistent with age and use..

Dimensions – 3" W × 3" D × 7 ½" H