WERNER MESCHEDE TILE FOR MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE 7243

A beautiful sunflower wall tile by Werner Meschede from the well-known series of botanical plaques he produced for MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE between 1965 and 1978.  The three-dimensional depth of the glassy surface is difficult to capture photographically but, trust us, is incredible in person.  This plaque would serve as wonderful room décor and is suitable for framing.  Engraved inverso with the standard MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE mark and form number.  Slight damage to top right corner [see photo].

WERNER MESCHEDE was one of the most significant majolica designers of the 20th century.  Born in Stuttgart in 1925, he studied under the tutelage of the ceramic artist Max Laüger and began work as a potter in Schorndorf, a small town near Stuttgart, after WWII.  In 1958 Meschede received his mastership from the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart.  He was soon hired by MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE, and for many years he served as its director of screen-printing, producing architectural and garden ceramics as well, both singularly and in series.  Meschede is well known for his botanical series of majolica wall plaques and tiles, as well as numerous lava-glaze vases, crackled items, and plates.

MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE (MANUFACTORY) was established in 1901 by Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden (1826–1907), at the behest of its founders, artists Wilhelm Süs (1861–1933) and Hans Thoma (1839–1924). An “idyllic” spot was chosen in the Duke’s residential city, near the palace gardens, the nexus of princely power and artistic production—a connection immortalized for the plant’s 2001 centennial by the installation of a “blue ray” (Blauer Strahl in German), a path of blue majolica tiles, physically linking the palace tower to the factory.

Süs and Thoma sought to revive the “majolica,” or faience technique, where “tin” glaze is applied to earthenware and used as a canvas for intricate colored decoration. The glaze, in reality, is a lead one, rendered white and opaque with the addition of tin oxide. Majolica’s manufacture involves dipping items in the white glaze, allowing it to dry, and then painting on designs before a second, high-temperature firing. The initial focus was on producing ceramics in the Italian Renaissance style, a choice influenced by their shared background and Süs’s prior experience running a ceramics studio. Towards the end of the decade, a signature style emerged—elaborate compositions, often including cherubim, on blue backgrounds. Eventually, MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE would become a mirror for 20^th-century artistic movements, from Art Nouveau to Bauhaus.

A note on terminology: What is referred to here as “majolica,” after the German usage, is often called “maiolica” in English, to distinguish it from the Victorian-era, mass-produced earthenware that uses a clear, colored lead glaze applied over a molded relief body, fired only once. The confusion associated with these naming conventions is long-standing!

Following revolutionary unrest at the end of WWI, popular demands for the establishment of a republic forced Grand Duke Friedrich II to abdicate, a peaceful transition and a pattern seen across all other German states. With the establishment of the Weimar Republic in 1918, the new Republic of Baden took over former royal properties, including MAJOLICA KARLSRUHE. The formal name Staatliche Majolika Manufaktur Karlsruhe was adopted in 1927 to indicate state ownership.

Despite the specificity of its name, MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE produced a wide range of artisan ceramics and was one of Germany’s leading ceramic producers generally. The quality of its work was excellent. Top designers before WWII included Ludwig König (1891–1974) and Max Läuger (1864–1952).

The factory was badly damaged by bombs in 1944 and did not return to the full-time production of decorative goods until the 1950s. By then, business had resumed much as in pre-war days, with both company-employed and freelance designers. One of the foremost post-war designers was Fridegart Glatzle (1920–2015), who joined MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE in 1951. Over the next 30 years, she produced a huge range of designs; much of her work is highly collectible. Other designers of this period included luminaries Eva Fritz-Lindner (1933–2017) and Werner Meschede (1925–1981). The company provided its artists with their own studio space, commissioning their activity.

Most MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE pieces bear the company’s name and symbol—the arms of Baden above a double-joined ‘M’ for Majolika-Manufaktur. Items are marked with a form number and, with exceptions in the late 20^th, were made with red-orange clay. Product examples can be seen at the Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe.

The commercial production side of MAJOLIKA KARLSRUHE officially concluded its 123-year operating history at the end of 2024, with its final collection dispersed at a historic closing auction in early 2025. The site now primarily functions as a museum, hosting a foundation for the promotion of the ceramic arts.