Small vase, Fritz Krug (Germany), ca. 1910

For along period I was rather exasperated by some vases I have, one of which is this pretty little vase (8 cm) as I had not been able to find any background information on it, despite a clear mark! A vase with a similar mark belongs to the PEM collection (at Grimmerhus (Ceramics Museum of Denmark)) and is described in the catalogue as German, dating to the period 1910-1930, and manufactured at Krug (which would fit the mark shown below with a 'K' inside a jug). However, 'Krug', is a bit of a search-engine nightmare as it means 'Jug' in German, and hundreds of (other) jugs turn up in the searches!

I had even tried to contact some German specialists, and they could not identify it, either. On an antiques fair here in Denmark I met a guy who was trying to sell a larger one with pewter decoration. He thought it was French as it belonged to a lot with some French pottery from the same period (I thought it was unlikely with the 'K' in the mark...). All I could say with certainty is that it was definitely not Danish!

BUT, one evening while idly browsing German ebay, I came across an unmarked vase with exactly the same shape and number as one of my vases, and the seller wrote that it was probably made at Fritz Krug Porzellan- und Terrakottenfabrik - I had it!

Located in Germany near Nürnberg, the Pottery was founded in 1851 (some sources say 1870 - that may be correct) and closed in 1950 although it seems to have continued as manufacturer of bathroom appliances etc. until 1968. There seem to have been two Fritz Krugs active there, a Krug Sr. and a Krug Jr., but this is really all I have been able to find out so far, except that Otto Sembach, who appears to have been a well-known and inventive porcelain technician in Germany, also worked there at some point.