Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Mid-century Altenkunstadt decanters

For a few years now I've been collecting a series of porcelain decanters which were made in West Germany during the 1960s* by a German factory called "Altenkunstadt". I've been surprised by how unknown they seem to be, but this has at least given me chance to gather quite a few! Although I'm sure there are more out there that I haven't discovered yet, I feel now is the time to share my collection with you. Pictured are three of my favourites.

As well as several other figural bottles, I also have one decorated with birds in a cage, one showing a bar scene and one showing a lady peeping out of a shower! My husband doesn't like them and thinks I'm potty for loving them so much, but I think they are fabulous. I will try to photograph them all, and then add the images to a special Flickr set, which I've set up here.

Altenkunstadt made other things as well as porcelain bottles, such as vases (some of which were designed by Cari Zalloni) and candlesticks like the one shown, which was decorated by a German illustrator called Susanne Dölker. I wonder if she also decorated the decanters. Jutta Lamprecht also produced illustrations for the company. The decanters were distributed in the US by Raymor, and they still have the Raymor sticker on the base. Some came with bath salts inside, others perhaps with alcohol? If anyone out there can tell me any more about these pieces I'd love to hear from you!

*Thank you so much to Larry, who has confirmed that he bought one in Germany in 1962/63, which gives me some concrete evidence of when they were produced!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Shop update!

I'm long over due for a shop update, but finally it's here and there is a bit of a seaside-y theme going on. There are beach puzzles and fishy tiles and wall plaques. Ok, so you don't see many elephants or tigers on beaches, but just humour me for now... This vintage Galt puzzle is available for £20.