West German Pottery is not always just about how it looks – many of the items have practical uses. This should hopefully be the first of a series of “WGP Practical Use” posts. The criteria for entries is West German pottery with intentional or unintentional use beyond aesthetics.

This first entry, perhaps the most obvious, but probably the purpose to which they are most frequently used – flower vases. When we are looking for vases we often look for the dried or plastic flowers rather than the vases themselves. Many florist windows in Germany are still adorned with West German ceramic vases. Often the larger floor vases are still found with plastic inserts to allow flowers to be displayed.