Ceramic WMF Vase (Germany), 1930’s

Members of this forum have posted both metal work and glass from the venerable German manufacturer WMF (Wüttembergische Metallwaren-Fabrik), so I am happy to be able to post a ceramic vase! It is a very dark red with some ‘clouds’ of grey here and there. WMF was founded in 1853 and is of course mainly known for their metal work, and perhaps most of all for their beautiful Ikora vases. In 1935 it was decided to start manufacturing ceramics which turned out to be a relatively short-lived endeavor as the production ceased in 1949 (or perhaps as early as 1946). As the leader of the new ceramics production Gerda Conitz was brought in. Born in 1901 in Studsin (Poland), she was a student at the Fachschule in Bunzlau and by 1925 she worked at the Bürgeler Kunstkeramischen Werkstätte founded by Carl Fischer (I have posted vases from both Bunzlau and BKW in this forum, too). Later she worked at the Staatliche Majolika-Manufaktur in Karslruhe, specialising in glazes, until she started at WMF. The WMF vases are usually not signed, but often attributed to Gerda Conitz.

I have been interested in the WMF ceramics for some time, so I was delighted when, much to my surprise, I came across this vase on a local and otherwise totally uninteresting flea market. I did not expect to find anything there, but there you go!

Dimensions: height 15.5 cm / 6.1 in. Mark: A tower below which the letters WMF.