Bay Keramik Mint-Green West German Vase, 1960s

This Bay Keramik vase catches West German pottery in one of its most charming moods. The waisted, carafe-like form is glazed in a soft, speckled mint green, then drawn over with a loose plaid of horizontal lines — cobalt blue, sunny yellow and warm brown — crossed by quick black sgraffito strokes and little star-like marks. The effect is playful and painterly, almost like a mid-century textile wrapped around the clay.

It is stamped 'W.-Germany 585-25' on the base, the model number of one of the great Rhineland potteries. Bay Keramik, founded in Ransbach-Baumbach, was among the most inventive of the post-war West German makers, and its hand-decorated wares from the 1950s and 60s sit right at the heart of what collectors now celebrate as classic German mid-century ceramics.

Run a hand over it and the surface tells the story: a dry, lightly bubbled glaze with real depth of colour, the incised lines catching a fingertip, the interior finished in a glossy sunshine yellow. The shape — narrow waist flaring to a generous foot and a flared rim — gives it genuine sculptural presence. This example is in very good condition, its colours fresh and its decoration crisp.

West German pottery rewards grouping, and this mint-green piece plays beautifully against warmer tones — set it beside our golden Jasba pottery vase, or browse the rest of our curated vintage objects.

Like every piece at Vintz, it was hand-picked for character and condition rather than restored, then shipped worldwide in a custom wooden crate, fully insured. Stand it alone as a shot of colour or fill it with a few dried stems — either way, it brings that fearless 1960s optimism the best West German pottery is loved for.