MidCentury West German DEC Mallorca Vase

Always a sucker for Mid Century pottery, I just had to pick this up.

Once again I seem to have bought a bit on an enigma.

It didn't take too long to find a similar vase on the internets. 1950s, from "Western" Germany, designed by Ferdinand Langenbarcher, and made by Schramberg. Easy right? Mystery solved!

Wouldn't it be nice if life were that easy? Well, we all know it is not. The vase I found on line is a slightly different shape than mine. Not to big a deal.

A bigger deal is that the marks don't match. The vase on line is clearly stamped "Schramberg" with the SMF shield. Langenbarcher was working at the Schramberg factory in the 50s, but I can't find a record of him working anywhere else.

My vase is marked "DEC. Mallorca" "Made in Western Germany" with the number "25" stamped. It is also incised with "4791"

The marks on my vase:

The marks on their vase:



My vase:


Their vase:

 

It's not uncommon to find Schramberg MF pieces without the SMF mark, especially on Langenbachers Milano and Mallorca lines.

 

Thanks so much for shedding some light on this.

I thought it odd that something so similar might come from a different a studio operating at the same time.

 

I didn't go look but vaguely recall looking up one time why something says Western rather than West. I don't actually remember what it said exactly but I think Western has a different meaning than West and I think I remember it's newer.

So since I basically just said nothing useful, what I guess I'm suggesting is that it might be something to look into.

 

Thanks.

It seems that "Made in Western Germany" would place the date of manufacture between 52-55. After 55 things seem to have been marked "Made in West Germany" right up till reunification.

This fits well with what I have been able to piece together from other sources.

 

It's a great looking vase!

 

Thank you very much! When I saw it I just had to have it. It will be sad to see it go.