THE DESIGNERS AT KPM BERLIN
In every stylistic era since its founding in 1763, outstanding creative talents have designed for the “ Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin.” Among them are world-renowned artists such as Karl Frederick Schinkel, Trude Petri, Marguerite Friedlaender-Wildenhain, and Enzo Mari. Their designs have shaped not only the history of the manufactory but also their respective eras—and continue to set the standard to this day.
THOMAS WENZEL
Thomas Wenzel has headed KPM’s artistic development department since 1993. In the 1990s, he collaboratedwith Italian designer Enzo Mari on the creation of the BERLINdesign, which won the iF Design Award. Wenzel’s ability to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration is evident in his partnerships with companies such as Bugatti, Burmester, and Bottega Veneta. In 2013, to mark the manufactory’s 250th anniversary, he developed the KURLAND BLANC NOUVEAU collection, whose interplay of glazed surfaces and matte reliefs offers a truly unique visual and tactile experience. Wenzel’s current designs include theLABseries of minimalist, technical-looking pieces, the multi-award-winning KPM coffee filter, and the KURLAND To-go-cup, which is already considered iconic today.
ENZO MARI
Enzo Mari was one of the most intellectually influential international designers of the 20th century. In his work, he explored questions of visual perception; his style is characterized by clarity. The Milan-based artist worked for the KPM Berlin from 1993 to 1996. The plates and bowls in the BERLIN collection, which he designed during this period, are based on the classic basic form of the chalice. The accompanying “ pot ” captivates with its nearly perfectly spherical shape; its inverted handle lends it an innovative touch. A base made of brushed stainless steel provides the slender, upward-reaching MARI vases with a secure footing in a modern way.
TRUDE PETRI
After completing her training as a potter in Hamburg, Trude Petri began working as a freelancer for the Berlin-based manufacturer in 1928. A year later, she was hired as a full-time designer and—at just 25 years old—designed the URBINO dinner service in the New Objectivity style. At the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris, the unadorned collection—based on the basic shapes of the sphere and the circle—won the Grand Prix and even made its way into the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Trude Petri created her final design for the company in 1967: the square CADRE vase remains a bestseller to this day.
SIEGMUND SCHÜTZ
After studying sculpture and wood design, Siegmund Schütz worked from 1932 to 1970 as an artistic collaborator at the KPM Berlin. During this time, he had a decisive influence on the design of modern porcelain. He was particularly interested in surface design: Schütz created numerous decorative motifs using deep-cut and shallow-cut relief techniques. Schütz drew inspiration for his three-dimensional relief decorations—such as those on the ARKADIA tea service designed by Trude Petri—from natural forms and models of classical antiquity.
MARGUERITE FRIEDLAENDER-WILDENHAIN
After studying at the University of Applied Arts in Berlin, Marguerite Friedlaender-Wildenhain enrolled at the State Bauhaus in Weimar in 1919. Ten years later, she became head of the ceramics workshop at the renowned State and Municipal School of Applied Arts at Burg Giebichenstein in Halle. In collaboration with the Berlin State Porcelain Factory ( KPM Berlin ), she created numerous designs for everyday porcelain, which were later produced in Berlin. Examples include the minimalist HALLE mocha set in 1929 and the HALLE vase series in 1931. With the National Socialists’ rise to power, Friedlaender-Wildenhain’s career as a porcelain designer in Germany came to an abrupt end. She moved to the Netherlands and opened a small but successful pottery studio. In 1940, she emigrated to the United States.
GERHARD MARCKS
Bauhaus professor Gerhard Marcks was one of the most important German sculptors of the 20th century. With his work, he manifested the convergence of art and pure functional form - as realized at the Bauhaus. From 1929 to 1938, Marcks designed style-defining pieces for the manufactory, such as the confectionery bowl set, which set new standards with its clear design language and functionality.
KARL FRIEDRICH SCHINKEL
Karl Frederick Schinkel had a lasting influence on the architecture of classical Prussia. This multi-talented artist also made outstanding contributions in the fields of interior architecture, design, and painting. Schinkel’s clear formal language and his departure from the sweeping curves of the Baroque were in harmony with the Prussian Enlightenment. Particularly between 1818 and 1831, the Royal Porcelain Manufactory produced a treasure trove of models based on Schinkel’s designs, models that have lost none of their significance. One example is the Neoclassical Schinkel basket with its filigree openwork wickerwork. Schinkel designed it in 1820 on commission from the Prussian King Frederick Wilhelm III. It is still painstakingly crafted at the manufactory today.
KARL FRIEDRICH SCHINKEL
Johann Gottfried Schadow began taking drawing lessons at the age of twelve. After completing an apprenticeship with the court sculptor Jean Pierre Antoine Tassaert, he was hired at Tassaert’s studio. A stay in Italy was followed by his appointment as a teacher and designer at the Academy of Fine Arts and the “ Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin.” As head of the “ studio ” (School of Court Sculpture) and director of the Academy of Fine Arts, he shaped the Berlin art scene in the first half of the 19th century.
In 1795, Johann Gottfried Schadow created, on behalf of the Prussian King Frederick Wilhelm II, the Prinzessinnengruppe, a double statue of Crown Princess Luise of Prussia and her younger sister Friederike, carved in marble. A smaller version was created for the KPM Berlin in biscuit porcelain .