ALBERT KIESSLING CYLINDRICAL STUDIO VASE (GDR)

A beautiful, snow-white, cylindrical vase from the East German studio of master potter Albert Kießling. The texture left from the hand turning is obvious beneath the glaze, which presents with irregular, horizontal striations that reveal a pale, putty-colored underglaze. The interior is black. Faintly marked with the studio insignia on the base. ALBERT KIESSLING (1909–1964) was one of the best-known East German studio potters of the Soviet Era. He first trained as a mechanical engineer before discovering a passion for ceramics. Kießling passed his master's examination following WWII and set up a studio in his hometown of Langenhessen, then within the borders of the GDR, in 1954. The small workshop, which averaged about eight employees, initially produced clay tableware—jugs and milk pots—finished with transparent glazes, but its program was soon expanded to include decorative ceramics. Kießling became famous as a glazing specialist—equally celebrated for his virtuoso crystalline finis