Jasba Vase 1532-22, White and Brown Crater Glaze with Bronze Sheen, 22 cm, West Germany 1960s/70s

This vase was made by Jasba Keramik in Ransbach-Baumbach in the Westerwald region, one of the centres of the West German ceramics industry. Jakob Schwaderlapp founded the company in 1926 and formed its name from the first syllables of his first name and the village of Baumbach. Until the 1970s Jasba produced vases and decorative vessels with experimental glazes and relief surfaces that are now among the sought-after examples of West German Pottery; afterwards the company concentrated on tiles. The base is impressed with the oval Jasba mark and the numbers 1532 22, indicating the form number and the height in centimetres. Comparable Jasba forms of the 1500 number series are dated to the late 1960s and 1970s.

The ovoid body narrows towards the shoulder into a short neck with a thickened, rolled rim. The entire wall carries an irregular, deeply modelled relief of hollows and ridges, covered with a thick, creamy white crater glaze. In the recesses the dark brown underglaze shows through and shimmers with a metallic bronze to golden sheen, so that depending on the light a lively interplay of pale ridges and dark, glossy hollows appears. The mouth is glazed in glossy black-brown inside, the base in dark brown, and the unglazed foot ring reveals the light-coloured clay body.

Thanks to its sculptural surface, the vase works as a decorative object on a sideboard, shelf or windowsill even without flowers, and suits a mid-century interior as well as a calm, nature-inspired setting; a few branches or dried grasses emphasise its compact form. It measures 22 cm in height and approx. 12 cm in diameter and is in very good condition without chips or cracks. Small irregularities in the glaze are due to the firing process and are part of the character of the crater glaze.