If a recurring accessory In the current decorative proposals are the Fat Lava ceramic pieces, manufactured mainly in West Germany (FRG) between the 50s and 70s and that today have become a real fever for antique collectors, lovers of crafts or mere fans of retro aesthetics. For sale on the internet, vintage stores or high street markets, they are characterized by having a considerable size, simple format and thick walls.
Its name is due to the enameled decoration of its finish, whose surface resembles the lava bubbles of an erupting volcano. In many cases, reddish or orange tones were chosen to enhance this effect, which was achieved by adding a series of chemical products to the enamel. Depending on the dose used, more or less deep craters were achieved and the relief was played with by means of additional layers of thickness.
A aesthetic level German manufacturers took various influences to enrich the artistic value of the Fat Lava: the elegance and formal balance of Scandinavian ceramics, the colorful Mediterranean craftsmanship and graphic motifs of Eastern Europe; hence some models have a marked Byzantine air or reminiscent of Italian Murano glass.
Decoratively speaking, it tends to place several Fat Lava of different height and thickness in the same environment, but maintaining a tonal harmony that contributes heomegeneity to the «still life», which is usually mounted in the hall, on the dining table or a sideboard, the shelf or the ledge of the window. Beyond the trends, neutral colors, pastel or the cold range of blues and greens are the most demanded for vases for their discretion and refinement.
It is in the pots and pots where a more striking and extravagant color is chosen: During the 70 decade of Fat Lava ceramic designs stood out for their excess and explosion of colors, with exotic graphics and a more ethnic repertoire, although there were also many models of spatial aesthetics due to the events of the moment, with finishes that recall the grayish roughness of the lunar surface that Neil Armstrong and his team had just stepped on.
On a personal note, I recognize that I would choose to invest in a more complementary functional, like a soap dish, a fruit bowl or a lamp like this one, which has a Fat Lava ceramic base to which any standard lampshade can be freely attached. If this renowned German technique ends up going out of fashion at least it would continue to be useful as a luminaire ...
More information - Ideas to decorate and give function to a windowsill
Sources - Alcan, Blurat, Etsy, Fat cat brussels, Flirck, On life and lava, Tumblr,
I like some pieces, they seem very original to me