There are numerous examples of different West German pottery companies producing very similar forms or decors. There are a number of different explanations for this phenomenon including:

• Popularity – Successful shapes or glazes were copied by competitors keen to maximise their profits
• Designers – The people that designed the forms or glazes moved between different companies through their career, some worked for multiple companies at the same time. Several factories were also founded by employees of existing factories.
• Product sharing – Some companies used forms produced by another company and applied their own décor
• Company buy outs – As some companies went out of business or were purchased by other companies their moulds were transferred between companies
• Chance – With the huge range of items that  companies produced some similarities between different manufacturers would inevitably occur by chance

This will be the first of a number of blogs where examples of copycat vases will be showcased.

The first example is the striking similarity between the décor on a Roth vase (4301) and a smaller U-Keramik vase (1735/14). The two green and white glazes are very alike and have been applied to the form in a similar position. The cause of this similarity is not known. Both these vases are currently for sale on eBay (you can see them by clicking here).