A large, DÜMLER & BREIDEN faux "klinker" floor vase with a kinetic, all-over sgraffito pattern, carved into the clay while the vase was spinning on the potter's wheel. Stained in shades of beige, brown, pale yellow, and rust. The interior is glazed and watertight. Just shy of 18" tall.

DÜMLER & BREIDEN (aka D&B) was founded in 1883 by Peter Dümler and his brother-in-law and childhood friend Albert Breiden in the town of Höhr-Grenzhausen in the Kannenbäckerland, about 20 km northeast of Koblenz in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. (The Kannenbäckerland—the "potters' land" or, more literally, the "jug-bakers' land"—is a centuries-old home to ceramics manufacture in central Germany and the site of the largest clay deposit in Europe.) In the early 20th century DÜMLER & BREIDEN was known mainly for the production of beer steins and punch bowls in the typical Westerwald style, but it gradually established itself as one of West Germany's leading producers of art pottery in the years following WWII. Throughout the 1950s, '60s, and '70s it produced an enormous range of decorative ceramics, employing themes that ranged from traditional to pop art, in a wide variety of often quirky styles and forms. Its pieces were finished with a diversity of colorful, at times flamboyant, glazes and glaze combinations. Items produced within the Domino, Polar, and Saturn design series are among the most collectible. DÜMLER & BREIDEN closed in 1992.

Notes on identification: D&B most often used white to buff clay, although red clay is seen in the Terra series and in other "klinker"-style items. Marks are almost always impressed and are usually made with a distinctive, square-cut lettering. A crossed-swords D&B symbol (with the lowercase initials "D" and "B" as stylized hilts) is often present on the base along with the form and size numbers; where the symbol is absent, the form and size numbers are stacked. If an origin is indicated, it is always simply "Germany"—with no "West" designation. The full text "DÜMLER & BREIDEN" replaces the D&B symbol from 1980 onwards. Relief and Studio pieces were marked on the base with the names of those series. Very few items have unmarked bases, and markings are only very rarely obscured by glaze. Factory stickers are most commonly found only on very early items and usually include the crossed-swords symbol and the location "Hohr."

KEY DESIGNERS:

• Ernst Dümler, a cousin
• Paul Zimmerling
• Rudolf Christmann

DETAILS

Maker – DÜMLER & BREIDEN

Production Period/Year – 1960s

Origin – WEST GERMANY

Styles/Movements – MID-CENTURY MODERN

Materials – CERAMIC

Colors – BEIGE, BROWN, RUST

Condition – Excellent vintage condition; no damage. May show some signs of previous use.

Dimensions – 10" DIAM. × 17 ¾" H