Founded by Eduard Bay in the 1930s and based in Ransbach Baumbach in the heart of the main West German pottery producing region, Bay Keramik grew to be one of the most prolific producers of ceramics in the ‘West German’ style and continued production into the 1990s. Concentrating at first on terracotta cooking pots and tableware, the company began producing a range of art pottery from the 1950s onwards which was to enjoy great popularity; particularly distinctive were their ‘lava’ glazes with heavily textured surfaces, an example of which is seen on this vase. In 1966, Bay developed the Römertopf, a patented, unglazed clay cooking vessel designed to steam food, which was released onto the market in 1967. While the Römertopf soon began to form the bulk of Bay’s output, their art pottery was still produced, albeit in smaller quantities, until the closure of their factory in 1998.

Bay pieces are usually marked with their name and often also carry the original manufacturer’s label. They are, then, for the most part, easy to identify. The numbers show the model number and the height in centimetres, but the former are not always easy to identify, which is the case here. But this vase is an excellent example of their work where the form and decoration are imaginatively combined. Dating is probably to the 1960s or 1970s.