Trude Petri and the " KPM Berlin " — A Success Story

Trude Petri was born in Hamburg on August 25, 1906. From 1925 to 1927, she attended the State Schools for Fine and Applied Arts in Hamburg and began training as a potter. In 1927, she moved to Berlin and worked under Otto Gothe in the ceramics department at the United State School of Fine and Applied Arts (now the UdK Berlin). This marked Trude Petri’s first contact with the manufactory, as Otto Gothe’s ceramics department, where she studied, was affiliated with the Berlin State Porcelain Manufactory (KPM Berlin).

Starting in 1928, Petri initially worked as a freelancer at the State Porcelain Manufactory in Berlin (KPM Berlin) under the direction of Nicola Moufang. When Günther von Pechmann took over as director of the manufactory in 1929, Petri was hired as a full-time designer. Two years later, the sculptor, painter, and designer created the URBINO dinner service. Consistently built upon the basic form of a truncated sphere, URBINO captivates with its clarity and elegance and is a perfectly formed classic crafted from “white gold.”

As simple as possible, as elegant as possible

For the design, which the “ KPM Berlin ” first presented to the public in 1932, Petri drew inspiration from Chinese rice bowls and flagless ceramic plates from the Italian Renaissance. Despite its historical models, URBINO reveals the influences of the Bauhaus era in which it was created. The tableware’s versatility was also repeatedly highlighted. For example, the lid of the bowl can be placed on the handle to serve as a “ bowl .” Furthermore, the “ KPM Berlin ” was the first artistically ambitious traditional manufacturer to successfully bring to market a completely undecorated tableware set that, like no other, embodied the Werkbund’s pursuit of “pure form.” It is therefore no surprise that the URBINO design was awarded the Gold Medal at the VI Triennale di Milano in 1936 and the Grand Prix at the 1937 International Exposition in Paris. URBINO is considered a model of timeless porcelain design and is on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

In collaboration with the sculptor Siegmund Schütz, she developed the Arkadia service in 1938 for the manufactory's 175th anniversary. The design is characterized by clear lines; the vessels are cylindrical or conical. The Plates with their sharp break between the rim and the mirror, were created based on the pewter plates of the 17th century. The individual parts of the service are decorated with medallions made of unglazed porcelain. The story of the dream land of Arkadia is told on the artistically cut relief medallions designed by Siegmund Schütz. Arkadia, the landscape of the Greek Peloponnese, was the setting for Hellenistic and Roman pastoral poetry.

The medallions are protected by a layer of wax applied with a brush before glazing. The wax melts during firing, releasing the delicate biscuit porcelain and allowing the other porcelain surfaces to shine in their brilliance.

Trude Petri’s quest to design porcelain that is as simple as it is elegant led to the creation of the BLUMENBECHER in 1947. In 2006, to mark the 100th birthday of this renowned KPM designer, the “ KPM Berlin ” released a new edition of this vase, which is as timeless as it is functional. The BLUMENBECHER lends every bouquet an air of sophistication without drawing attention to itself.

In 1967, her final design for the “ KPM Berlin ”—the “Tee” vase (now known as “CADRE”)—was produced. Trude Petri passed away at the age of 90 on February 5, 1998, in Vancouver, where she had moved after her husband’s death. Yet her designs have outlived her and are still handcrafted today, celebrated as design classics.