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Book Review: From Spritzdecor to
Fat Lava: West and East German Ceramics
and West and East German
Pottery: Marks, Bases, Decors, and Form
Numbers both by Kevin Graham (on cds)
(See link at the end of the review for sample pages.)
Kevin Graham has
been buying West German pottery and gathering information for nearly a
decade, and he began talking about a book shortly after our common
interest began our e-mail exchanges. For a long time it appeared
that the project was cursed as delay followed delay. Not long
ago, he managed to put together money to produce a two-volume, limited
edition hardback through one of the self-publishing companies, but
after the first batch was shipped, the binding quickly fell apart.
That disagreement and other shortcomings with self-publishing made
Kevin shift his focus to producing the books on cds. An early  version came out in 2009 in limited release. As a
person who
loves the feel of a book as much as the content, I had doubts, but
those have been washed away with the current editions of From
Spritzdecor to Fat Lava and West and East German Pottery:
Marks,
Bases, Decors and Form Numbers. (Special Note: Kevin lists
these
as volume one and volume three, but they are more accurately the second
edition of Spritzdecor to Fat Lava and the third edition of the marks
book. These editions have added material rather than all-new
material.)
The results are overwhelming in terms of sheer information. If
these were issued in traditional book format, each edition would
require two volumes, and the cost would be prohibitive for all but the
most determined collector. On the other hand, given the amazing
breadth of this field, even these books are only a beginning.
Spritzdecor to Fat Lava
 This 278 page edition
includes over 100 companies in the
main section
plus 24
companies with more limited information known as yet. The
following section has 48 brief designer profiles. All together,
there are roughly 900 items
pictured, far more than you see in most books on any
collectible. Although not as
extensive as the other marks book, there are more marks here than many
collectors will need plus a list of further reading and a bibliography
for the serious researchers. (Most of this material is still in
German only.)
Each company profile includes some of all of the following information
depending on what is so far known: company name, location, date
started, date closed, founder, key designers, known series/decor names,
form numbers used, a paragraph or two about the company, and a
reference. (Although there are form numbers in this volume, it is
difficult to use these for identification since you have to know the
company in order to know which list to check. However, this does
give an idea of the range a company covered and at least some of the
sizes in which a given form was made if you like collecting by size.)
There is at least one
picture of what each company produced with more
pictures for the better known companies, including 20 for Bay and 50
for Carstens Tonnieshof (and some pictures have more than one
item). Only a few of the items fall into the Spritzdecor
category, but it does give a sense of the history that led to the
midcentury modern era. Most of the items fall into the good to
better range in terms of quality with few of the lesser quality items
(which are prevalent in the markets) and also few of the finer, rare
items. Collectors need to develop a discerning eye and remember
that not all mid century German pottery is created equal.
Marks, Bases,
Decors, Numbers
This cd includes 375 pages of information, enough to keep anyone busy
for a while. The marks are broken into three sections:  commercial
potteries, studio potteries, and porcelain marks. (The
Spritzdecor to Fat Lava cd doesn’t actually include much of the
porcelain of the era.) The next section discusses the types of
clay used by different companies and how that helps with
identification.
That’s followed by an extensive list of decors/glazes produced by
different companies. This section is tantalizing but by no means
complete. Where known, the decor name, designer, and years
produced are included, but most of that information is yet to be
discovered. Some companies, including Steuler are not included in
this edition due simply to time constraints, so there will be updates
in the future.
By far, the largest section (over 270 pages) is devoted to the chart of
form numbers, shape description, and size designations, which company
made them, and what year or era the shape was introduced. (Some
shapes were made for a limited time, while others ran for
decades. Also, there are cases where companies re-used form
designations over the years.)
The Problems
Most of the issues will be cleared up shortly, so they may not apply,
but I’ll list them for now.
While Kevin has the requisite obsessive nature for research, his
writing is sometimes problematic, particularly his love of
commas. Earlier parts have been proofread, but recent additions
are replete with sentence fragments and run-on sentences. Still,
the meaning remains clear, so it will only bother a few of us.
There are a few inaccurate parts that are due to be corrected.
The comment that the original Ruscha 313s were handmade is the primary
example. Although a sleeker design, they were molded.
However, that difference would have almost certainly made it more
difficult to produce, and early versions probably had a tendency to
break coming out of the mold. The later version was thicker and
less exaggerated in form with fewer tight angles. This allowed
for faster production.
While Spritzdecor to Fat Lava has an all-white background, the numbers
book has a gray version of the Paris decor in the background.
It’s not a problem for most of the book, but it does complicate reading
the form numbers section. My understanding is that this became
necessary to prevent photocopies. Fortunately, unlike traditional
books, it’s possible to increase the size of the page, which makes it
easier to read.
 Keep in mind that even
though these cds are not produced
by a
corporation, the copyright laws still apply. In addition to
photocopies, there have already been exchanges of cd copies. It’s
theft, and there’s no Robin Hood issue here because you’re not stealing
from the rich. Indeed, with the time and money Kevin has put into
this work, it will be a long time before he sees any profit from
it.
Ordering Information
Copies are available through this site or directly from Kevin
Graham. For those in the US and Canada, time and shipping issues
make our site the best bet, while those in Europe may want to deal
directly with the author. He can be contacted at:
Kevin James Graham kj_graham@gmx.de
E-mail us at ginfor@earthlink.net or take a
look at the order page.
You
can also take a look at sample pages using the link at the bottom
of this page.
Forrest D. Poston
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