Who loves ORANGE? Vibrant with volcanic verve: FAT LAVA!

When I moved to Palm Springs California from Chatham NY, I slowly began an evolution......I was becoming an orange person! No..I dont mean an orange person like those Asian or Mexican girls with jet black hair who want to be blonde California gurlz like we see on TV...all spray tanned and highlighted who emerge from the salon an odd shade of peachy orange.....(maybe a little like Beyonce's artificial hair color?)..I had a theory a few years back that the multi-ethnicization of America was being foreshadowed in California by these 'orange girls' and that most of America was gonna be that color by 2030....and it looks like we're well on our way!

No...the orange I like is mid century modern super orange....not quite international orange like caution cones or life jackets...but a rich, bright, vibrant orange orange......the kind we use and live with on a daily basis in oh-so-cool mid century modern Palm Springs...in upholstery fabrics, in powder coated outdoor metal retro furniture, in pillows, as accent colors for our super hip doors and ultra-mod restaurants...orange rules Palm Springs and Southern California in general I have some friends who shop for all orange utilitarian objects..like orange plastic drinkware, orange hangers, even orange q-tips! They live in a house decorated in only 2 colors...blue..and orange..(complimetaries on the color wheel)..accented by white and clear...colorless-colors....so the predominant effect is the high contrast punch of these 2 super shades.

It was with that kind of persona in mind that when I discovered German Art Pottery of the 1960's..sometimes sub categorized as "FAT LAVA"..that I knew I had found my orange fetish a worthy category to obsess on. Deemed this volcanic-like term because of the super vibrant magma like colors, pumice ashy glazes, super textural finishes and surfaces.....Fat Lava seemed PERFECT for our homes in California as accent pots...the way Fiesta, Bauer, Glendale, and Catalina Pottery had all seemed 15-20 years ago...but offered a newer, fresher, more modern 60's-70's FEEL. Instantly...I acquired lots of it...mostly from Germany and Canada....as not that much was imported inot the States.....and I now have a section of my shop devoted to selling it and infecting others with orange fetish. Companies like Scheurich, Bay, Carstens, Roth and Ceremano are among dozens of firms which produced this ware in the 60's and 70's in Germany...in large numbers....but the pottery somehow was deemed 'uncool' for many years, and was supplanted by Italian Bitossi, English Poole and other European pottery as THE fashionable art pottery for the MCM modernists to live with.....and relegated to the scrap heap of pottery nerds likes lists.,...and not given much respect. Well my friends Forrest Poston, of Gin-Fors Odditiques in Indiana, and the extra gorgeous and lovely Reyne Haynes Hirsch from Houston and I, Mr. Matt of Palm Springs, have for a while, (Forrest for a long while)...been trying to give this pottery a little respect....with our websites, galleries and shops featuring it in a high impact decorative way...and its popularity is GROWING...and selling! Several books have been published and DVD's as well have been produced showing just how gorgeous FAT LAVA can be....and that dissemination of pictures and information has jump started and multiplied interest over the past year or so.. Several shows and exhibitions have taken place in Europe...where most of the collectors are,...and have also added intrique and established 'validity' for this all too long overlooked category of European pottery. Interested in learning more? Join Facebooks open group WEST GERMAN POTTERY...and youll meet all the pottery nerds, be able to buy the books and dvd's, and learn more than you though you ever needed to about these lovely vessels. There are subcategories too within the main category....and Ill illuminate you all about those items in another later post...but for today...enjoy these 3 Scheurich orange pots...and another orange and brown one....vibrant with volcanic verve....and see if the stuff suits you.....Questions....write me at route66antiques@aol.com or on Facebook..and Ill lecture, lecture lecture you MORE!