I’ve just got back from a working and (thankfully, latterly) pleasure weekend in Berlin. The results of my Fat Lava this time hunt were rather surprising! I found one design shop in trendy Mitte where they actually had a selection of Fat Lava on display in their vintage design section. This is the first time I have ever seen a proper display in a shop in Germany. Amazingly, the pieces were generally too expensive for me to buy, ranging from 50 to 90 euros, and upwards. I know this isn’t too much all told, but it’s more than I am used to paying and more than I am used to seeing them priced at, particularly in Germany. It was interesting to see that the staff was comprised mainly of young people, as were many of the customers. I showed them my bookalogue and asked what they thought of the pots themselves and, for once, got a highly positive response. They loved the wild colours! Maybe the new generation is finally waking up to Fat Lava, perhaps as they don’t remember them being so dreadful and indicative of the 1960s and 70s as their parents do. Furthermore, Marita, the lady who sold me a large Fat Lava sgraffito horse vase from her vintage clothing shop off FriedrichStrasse, said that she knew something was going on in the area because two English guys came in two weeks before and bought as much as they could carry! I wonder what they got? However, despite this positivism from the trendier, more avant garde end of the market in Mitte, I did get an utterly horrified gasp when I asked for Fat Lava in the main antiques and collectables centre, ‘Why on EARTH would you want that? Do you really think we would sell such things?!'” Honestly, the Luddites…..!Blog, Ceramics, Shopping, Travelling
Berlin Bound!
I’ve just got back from a working and (thankfully, latterly) pleasure weekend in Berlin. The results of my Fat Lava this time hunt were rather surprising! I found one design shop in trendy Mitte where they actually had a selection of Fat Lava on display in their vintage design section. This is the first time I have ever seen a proper display in a shop in Germany. Amazingly, the pieces were generally too expensive for me to buy, ranging from 50 to 90 euros, and upwards. I know this isn’t too much all told, but it’s more than I am used to paying and more than I am used to seeing them priced at, particularly in Germany. It was interesting to see that the staff was comprised mainly of young people, as were many of the customers. I showed them my bookalogue and asked what they thought of the pots themselves and, for once, got a highly positive response. They loved the wild colours! Maybe the new generation is finally waking up to Fat Lava, perhaps as they don’t remember them being so dreadful and indicative of the 1960s and 70s as their parents do. Furthermore, Marita, the lady who sold me a large Fat Lava sgraffito horse vase from her vintage clothing shop off FriedrichStrasse, said that she knew something was going on in the area because two English guys came in two weeks before and bought as much as they could carry! I wonder what they got? However, despite this positivism from the trendier, more avant garde end of the market in Mitte, I did get an utterly horrified gasp when I asked for Fat Lava in the main antiques and collectables centre, ‘Why on EARTH would you want that? Do you really think we would sell such things?!'” Honestly, the Luddites…..!