Jopeko Handled Vase, Fat Lava Red & Beige-Brown, Original Label, West Germany 1960s/70s

This small handled vase was made by Jopeko Keramik of Ransbach-Baumbach in the Westerwald, a family business of the Korzilius family whose name derives from its founder Johann Peter Korzilius and which still exists today. In the 1960s and 1970s Jopeko was among the makers whose bold colours and experimental glazes helped shape the era collectors now call Fat Lava and West German Pottery. The original gold foil label reading Jopeko Keramik is still attached to the body; a form number is impressed in the base beneath the glaze but is only faintly legible. Shape and height correspond to Jopeko model 404/12.

The squat, globular body rises into a short, angled neck with a drawn-out spout, while a sturdy strap handle arcs widely from the rim to the shoulder. Shoulder, handle and foot are covered in a cream-white crater glaze speckled with dark brown, its porous, relief-like surface giving the piece its typical fat lava character. Between them a broad band of glossy orange-red run glaze encircles the body, flowing into the lava layer in fine streaks and individual drips. The inside of the mouth is glazed black, as is the underside, which is framed by a pale ring.

As a compact single piece the vase suits a sideboard, shelf or windowsill, holding a small bouquet, grasses or dried flowers, and fits into a collection of West German ceramics as well as into a mid-century interior. Small pores and irregularities in the crater glaze are inherent to the firing and are not defects. The vase measures 14.5 cm in width including the handle, 12 cm in depth and 12 cm in height, and is in very good condition.