RUSCHA KERAMIK ‘SCHEUENDE PFERDE’ WALL TILE 782/3

An extra-large, vertical wall tile from RUSCHA KERAMIK depicting two rearing horses on a red-and-brown, fat-lava background. The décor, 'Scheuende Pferde' ('Shying Horses'), was designed in 1968. The tile is numbered 782/3 and is initialed inverso by the unknown artist ("E.M.") who painted it. RUSCHA KERAMIK launched in 1948 when Rudolf Schardt assumed the management of Klein & Schardt, his father Georg's ceramics factory in the town of Rheinbach, located near Bonn in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.  (RUSCHA is a syllabic abbreviation of his name.)  The timing of the re-founding ensured that the company was in a good position to benefit from Germany's post-war growth boom.  RUSCHA KERAMIK became a leading manufacturer during the "golden age" of Western German ceramics and is credited with some of the era's key developments.  It produced some very successful and innovative forms and glazes, including the 'Vulcano' décor (Otto Gerharz, 1951)—which heralded the move towar