Rosenthal 2021 Novelties

60 years ago, Rosenthal stirred up the porcelain industry - with avant-garde designs by artists, designers and architects. Now the German porcelain manufacturer is celebrating the studio-line with a limited anniversary collection and translates 60 iconic vases with twelve contemporary colours into the here and now. Rosenthal stands like no other porcelain manufacturer for the combination of form, function, craftsmanship and technical know-how. This corporate strategy is thanks to Philip Rosenthal, the son of the company founder. With his farsighted feeling for the market, he invented the New Look of porcelain, from which the studio-line collections have been created since 1961. Long before design was on everyone's lips, Rosenthal worked together with contemporary designers and supported young talents. The Upper Franconian porcelain factory becomes an international company that works across disciplines - at that time a radical break with traditional porcelain design.

The studio-line has produced timeless designs that are design icons of the 20th century, such as art objects by Andy Warhol, Victor Vasarely and Otto Piene. And the Service TAC by Walter Gropius (1969), Suomi by Timo Sarpaneva (1976), Moon by Jasper Morrison (1997) and Landscape by Patricia Urquiola (2008) - still part of the Rosenthal range today as design highlights. More than 150 artists, designers and architects have designed for studio-line since the early 1960s, including Tapio Wirkkala, Ettore Sottsass, Marcel Wanders and Konstantin Grcic. Rosenthal's love of experimentation is also demonstrated by the current collection with objects by Sebastian Herkner and BIG. Especially beautiful: porcelain from Rosenthal is made in Germany. It is manufactured in Selb and Speichersdorf under the most modern and sustainable conditions. In production, Rosenthal uses recycling management wherever possible. This includes dissipating the heat from the kiln to heat water, using recycled water in production and reprocessing porcelain paste for new products.

To mark the 60th anniversary of studio-line, Rosenthal is launching 60 selected vases in twelve different colours that reflect future trends and at the same time represent a journey through Rosenthal's design history. The limited edition alternates between restrained shades of grey, pastel green and blue as well as intense berry tones with sonorous names such as Sea Salt, Tangerine, Mint and Abyss. Included in the illustrious birthday series are Rosenthal classics such as Plissée by Martin Freyer (1968), Pollo by Tapio Wirkkala (1970), Arcus by Marcello Morandini (1983), Conio by Michele De Lucchi (1994), Fast by Cédric Ragot (2006) and Fondale by Office for Product Design (2017). The shapes are as varied as the colours: they range from pure, architectural volumes to sumptuous, floral objects. The restrained tones of the palette correspond with the strictly geometric vase shapes, while the intense colours blend with the poetically playful objects. The vases are made of through-dyed porcelain mass.

What appears easy at first glance is technically demanding, even for Rosenthal. The porcelain mass produced according to the company's own recipe changes according to the addition of the coloured bodies, which in turn has an effect on the stability of the bodies before and after firing. To achieve the shape of the coloured vase as in the white original, each of the 60 vases had to be newly created. The sophistication of the Rosenthal studio line vases therefore lies in the expertise and manufacturing art of the Rosenthal craftsmen, who like alchemists create artistic objects from porcelain according to a secret recipe.