Posted 7 years ago
Quantumphy…
(13 items)
Here is my small collection of vintage laboratory ceramics!
The largest mortar is glazed on the in- and outside. It is marked "6A" on the bottom, and has a small blue mark on the side, a small arrow pointing towards a H. It has an internal diameter of about 11cm, external diameter of about 13 cm. The pestle I display it with is about 15 cm long, glazed all over, and marked "P 90-30 DIN", "Staatlich Berlin", and with the image of a blue sceptre.
The middle one is glazed on the outside, unglazed on the inside, and marked with "Staatlich Berlin" and the image of a blue staff. The internal diameter is about 10 cm. The pestle I display it with is about 12 cm long, unglazed at the tip, and marked "P3", "Staatlich Berlin" and with the image of the blue sceptre.
The smallest one is glazed on the outside, unglazed on the inside, with an internal diameter of about 5,5 cm. It is marked "55 - 00", a small arrow pointing towards a letter H, and "Haldenwanger Berlin".
"Staatlich Berlin" and the blue sceptre are the marks of what is now known as the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin (Royal Porcelain Manufacture Berlin). I've seen similarly marked laboratory porcelain on eBay and catawiki dated pre-WWII/first half of the 20th century, but I haven't been able to find a good source to date these definitely.
"Haldenwanger Berlin" is a laboratory/apothecary ceramics company that was founded by a former employee of KPM Berlin (Wilhelm Haldenwanger) in 1865. Its mark is the small arrow pointing towards the letter H. Today it still exists as a part of the British concern Morgan Advanced Materials. I've seen items with similar markings dated around 1960's-1970's, but again, I'm not sure.
PS: I had no idea what category to put these under... Help?
