This vase was made in “Plateelfabriek” (potteryfactory) RAM in Arnhem. Leendert Anthonie Iseger founded the factory in 1921 with the support of directors of art museums and artists such as Jan Toorop, Willem Adriaan van Konijnenburg and Richard Roland Holst. The aim of the company was to develop the new Dutch art pottery industry initiated by Theodoor Colenbrander (1841-1930). Iseger had worked in Plateelbakkerij Rozenburg, where Colenbrander led the factory artistically. In the first years (1921-1924) the RAM factory would only make pottery after a design by Colenbrander. Unlike other factories, RAM would focus on the artistic product (at all costs). In the words of Hadewych Marten (Biographical Dictionary Gelderland, translated):
“The painters were paid per hour, which was unusual at the time (piecework wages were the rule). The paint co-developed by Colenbrander had more than seventy shades, indicated by numbers and names such as ‘evergreen’ and ‘berry wet’. The clay composition resulted in a hard, smooth shard on which the paint could be applied evenly. The artist, who was already almost eighty years old, enthusiastically started designing. In addition to dozens of new vase shapes, he created hundreds of decors, which when applied to the various models look completely different. Critics praised the vitality of the designs and the bold use of color. Finally the ideal seemed realised: the Colenbrander-RAM products belong to the absolute top of Dutch pottery. However, the care that went into the products also had its price. There were decors comprising more than ten colors in the fairly thick enamel paint, so one could spend days on one vase, which made the objects expensive.”
From 1925, the factory had to start making other products in order to remain profitable. The object that is central here comes from the period between 1925 and the bankruptcy of the factory in 1935. The new objects were cast in molds and decorated by hand. Many different artists were attracted for this. The signature O.G. probably refers to the decorator’s initials, but no careful records have been kept of this within the factory. It is a beaker vase, also known as ‘model 23’. The height is 18.5 centimeters, the diameter at the top is 19.5 and the diameter at the bottom is 13.5. The beautiful object is in mint condition.
75 € (with valuation report)
