A thin-walled footed ceramic bowl hand-thrown by Gertrud Natzler, featuring Otto Natzler's Lava glaze in shades of variegated pale yellow and green with the characteristic pitted and cratered texture on both the exterior and interior of the piece.
Jewish artists Gertrud and Otto Natzler began their pioneering experiments in ceramics in the mid-1930s shortly after meeting in Vienna, seeking to transform the medium from craft to fine art. In March of 1938, the same day that the couple learned their works exhibited in the Austrian Pavilion at the World Exposition in Paris had won a silver medal, their home country was invaded by the Nazis.
The couple fled to California within a few months, where they set up a new studio and quickly began to earn acclaim for innovations in both form and surface.
Getrud threw impressive thin-walled vessels by hand, while Otto experimented with glazes resulting in unusual textural effects which enhanced Getrud’s minimalist forms.
This bowl is signed on the underside.
Diameter: 6 1/4 inches (16 centimeters)