retroselect.com - Rosenthal

Waterford Wedgwood (Ireland) is now the major shareholder of this company.

ABOVE: Backstamps, left: 1934-1956; right: 1957-today. I added the red circles to highlight obvious differences, notably the loop after the 'l' on the earlier backstamp.

Form 2000 body shape by Raymond Loewy

Trade Ad
Pottery Gazette Review (1957). "Rosenthal are fortunate in having Mr. Raymond Loewy as their chief designer in America. His work is helping to ensure that the world of ceramics will continue to look to Rosenthal for leadership." This pot is decorated in Ebony Black.

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ebony black milk jug
With a matt finish on white porcelain. Mint condition. Value: £20-30

Kunstabteilung (art department)

The art department in Selb, Bavaria was headed from 1946 by Fritz Heidenriech.

BEWARE of modern re-issues carrying the CLASSIC ROSE backstamp (from 1983-1991). The items below are all 1950s origninals, with the KUNSTABTEILUNG stamp.

Beate Kuhn Vase No. 2646?
Said by the dealer to be called "palette", but I have no idea if this is correct. A very fine porcelain vase in mint condition. This backstamp was used from 1957-today. Value: £200-250

Beate Kuhn Vase No. 2658
Looking very like a Barbara Hepworth sculpture from the 1930s, complete with the Hepworth 'hole', this vase is from pure white porcelain. Also seen with black or mustard-yellow detailing. Kuhn was born in 1927 in Düsseldorf and she worked from 1953-57 as a porcelain designer for Rosenthal. The backstamp dates this piece to no later than 1956. Impressed: "beate kuhn 2658". Value: £150-200

Beate Kuhn kummet vase No. 2661/0 (1953)
Also seen with black detailing, or in plain white. Impressed "beate 2661/0". Often called "Kummet" (horse collar) because of its resemblance to a yoke. Value: £50-70

Beate Kuhn kummet vase (1953)
Also seen with black detailing, or in plain white. Impressed "beate 2661/0?". Often called "Kummet" (horse collar) because of its resemblance to a yoke. Value: £50-70

Fritz Heidenreich vase No. 2690
Heidenriech (1895 - 1966) worked at Rosenthal from 1919 to 1960 and headed the Kunstabteilung from 1946 onwards. The backstamp dates the piece to no later than 1956. Impressed: F. HEIDENREICH 2690. Value: £50-70

Un-named vase No. 2653
Also seen in white with a pattern of black and grey lines, rather like the patterns of Midwinter, England, on their Monaco design. The backstamp dates the piece to no later than 1956. Value: £20-40

Pink vase No. 2654
Vase with flared lip and hand-painted decoration. I managed to drop this when I unpacked it so there is now a nick to the glaze on the tip of the small 'lip'. Value: £70-120 (if mint).

Black vase No. 2687
Mint condition appart from a pinhead nick to the glaze on the neck. Value: £50-70

Studio-Linie or studio-line (1961 - today)

In the 1950s, the dinosaur-like British Potteries of Staffordshire carried on producing dull, traditional ware, with a few token 'modern' pieces, often badly designed by their own backward-looking, in-house designers. By contrast, Rosenthal and other German porcelain manufacturers made a conscrious effort to modernise their output. This helped them grab a share of the US market from their stuffy and conservative British rivals. Rosenthal commissioned a series of great designers to work for their Kunstabteilung (Art Department), the forerunner of their highly successful Studio-Linie series, which started in 1961. The backstamps had studio-linie (in German) from 1961-1999, and studio-line (in English) from 1999 - today. For more on the Studio Linie, click here:

Wirkkala/Nairac vase (stamp for 1978)
Nr. 2786/20. Designed by Tapio Wirkkala with decoration by Rosemonde Nairac (England). Unused, pristine condition. From unsold stock rescued by the seller from a shop in Germany; with its original box. The same decoration is also seen on a purely cylindrical vase. Another variant, on a slightly different shaped body to the one shown here, has this pattern in overglaze gold. Rosenthal also made an all-white vase (number 3555/22), in which Nairac's design, blue on the vase pictured here, is embossed instead in white relief. This body shape is also seen with a colourful pattern of flower heads picked out with gilding.

The pattern is reminiscent of the coablt blue on white porcelain designs of Hans Theo Baumann in 1979 for Fukagawa, Japan. One ebay listing for this vase gives the following information, which I have not personally verified. Please email me if you have this book and it checks out!

"Rosenthal vase 2786/20 Body Shape: Tapio Wirkkala, 1960; Decoration: Rosemonde Nairac, 1980s. Literature: "TAPIO WIRKKALA – eye, hand and thought", Museum of Art and Design, Helsinki, August 2000 (WS Bookwell Oy, Porvoo 2000), page 351/352."

Value: £20-40

Balance by Jeroen Bechthold (1979) (Vases, two sizes)

Designed in 1979 by Bechthold's during his 4 week stint at Rosenthal; in production from 1980 - c. 1985. For Bechthold's website and his page about these designs, click here.

The vase on the left is No. 3594/26 is 25.5 cm tall, that on the right is No. 3594/30 is 29cm. The smaller vase has the Bechthold signature. The larger is stamped with the 100 year anniversary stamp of Rosenthal (1979). Value: £20-50 (each).

3594/26

3594/30