This photograph says it all about Fritz Haussmann of Uster Switzerland. He studied in the Bauhaus school Germany and won an award for this iconic teapot. The body is of terracotta and with a shiny black glaze. The glaze sits tight to the body and therefore there is no crazing on the outside. The inner is a beautiful white. The pot is so light weight that upon picking it up one seems to lift it heavy, yet it is not. The sweeping handle allows for a good sized hand and allows the weight of its contents to be evenly balanced. The spout which droops down allows a perfect pour without and dripping.
Fritz and his wife Helen opened their studio in Uster in 1928 and started production of ceramics in more of a *Swiss* taste. This can be seen in their designs of tablewares that feature local flowers and also incorationg designs with Vertical lines,circles,stars and many more characteristics of what the time demanded, as to fashion. Their tableswares were always handpainted so one can see in what amazing detail the artists created their designs. Where one finds items that have lines drawn either vertical or horizontal, great detail and a very steady hand was required, with all the handpainting being sometimes simplitistic or complex. The main colours include,yellow,white,black,blue,red,green,gray and a light orange.
The simple line drawn designs were that of a exteremly steady and well trained eye and hand. The line drawn items stand on their own and a table set with the entire dinner service makes the eye dance with delight,if not beguiling to send you into a trance. Just so so amazing altogether,but real hard to find a compleste set, making it that more interesting in seaching to enable one to have a set.
The Mocca Cups can be found with their flat ear handles, which is also so Bauhaus, and reminds me of similar items made by Clarice Cliff and Susise Cooper(England), both being highly collectable around the world. Susie Cooper designs are closer to that of Haussmann with the flowers and the dots, circles and lines. The paste used by all these potters is very similar and tends to chip showing their base clay, today even a chipped piece providing its not too ugly, is still collectable.
The studio produced so many different items for every day use and an extensive range of dinnerware. They also created many delightful vases with stunning glazes, shapes and somewhat special techniques, these being hard to come by. So many round ball vases were turned into table lamps as their glazes were so stunning and eyecatching it had to be made into a feature piece. Years ago Haussmann was not well noticed by the public and so its with most items it takes time for people to recognise a great designer. The prices for some items have reached high prices, but there will still be some time before the complete output will become highly regarded. As those who owned these items are no longer with us so the scarcity grows and so will the collectibility and demand grow.
A grouping of teapots or mocca cups and saucers are a visual delight. Some items are reminiscent of Laura Ashley in design. Have fun in searching for these treasures at affordable prices as with so many other items their prices will shoot up when the demand is there. Landes Museum Zurich has a collection of Fritz Haussmann spsnning his years, worth a visit.
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