Keramos Austria Mid-Century Ceramic Vase, 1960s

This Keramos Austria ceramic vase is a small, confident piece of mid-century hand-painting. Its shouldered, ovoid body is wrapped top and bottom in fine terracotta-orange bands, drawn freehand around the wheel, while the middle is given over to a deep matte-black panel. Against that darkness sits the drama: an abstract patch of creamy white glaze, pooled and bubbled like a cloud, flanked by quick golden-yellow cross and tally marks. It is almost calligraphic — design that feels improvised and completely sure of itself at once.

The vase still carries its original oval 'Keramos — Austria' foil label, the mark of one of Austria's well-known post-war ceramic houses. Austrian workshops like Keramos brought a slightly more painterly, folk-modern sensibility to the same mid-century moment that produced the bolder West German vases, and pieces like this are increasingly sought after for exactly that hand-made character.

Run a finger over it and you feel the contrast that makes it special: the dry, lightly grooved terracotta bands against the smooth, glassy black and the raised swell of the white glaze. The colours remain rich and unfaded. This example is in very good condition, with its decoration crisp and its label intact.

A vase like this earns its place on a shelf, a windowsill or a dining table, and looks even better in the company of other period ceramics — set it beside our Jasba West German 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. Fill it with a few dried stems or leave it bare as a little painting in the round — either way, it carries a quiet, hand-made warmth that mass production never matches.