During a holiday in the picturesque town of Southwold on the Suffolk coast we visited a number of antique/second hand/vintage shops. Many featured West German Pottery. This is a quick run down on the places visited which had some Fat Lava items:
Southwold Antiques Centre (83 High Street, Town Centre, Southwold) – A great rabbit warren of a shop where all the little rooms were crammed with all manner of second hand items. There was a reasonable smattering of West German items but all were relatively subdued.
Tinkers (The Green, Walberswick) – This little shop combined vintage items with craft and reproductions. Amongst the items were some 1950s Bay Keramik vases.
Retro 21 (21 Market Hill, Framlingham) – A small shop in the market square, it had some quality retro items from the 1950s through to the 1970s. It also had quite a few Fat Lava items but they were not quite up to the standard of much of the glass and furniture. A 1950s Scheurich vase also appears on their advertising leaflet.
Yoxford Antiques Centre (Askers Hill, Yoxford, Suffolk) – The signing looked upmarket for this out of town antiques centre, I was expecting polished mahogany and silver but was pleasantly surprised to find about 70 different dealers stalls which provided a good range of items. Again there was a reasonable amount of West German items (vases, plant pots, lamps) but nothing particularly special.
Vintage Mischief (The Old Dairy, Hungate Lane, Beccles) – This fantastic vintage shop is tucked out the way next to a car park in the small town of Beccles. It was crammed with some great furniture from the 50s through to the 70s and all at reasonable prices (we bought a book case and chest of drawers). West German vases adorned a number of the items of furniture.
The Antiques Centre at Elsecar (Elsecar Heritage Centre Wath Road Elsecar, South Yorkshire) – OK it’s a long way from Norfolk but we called here on route from home to Southwold. This large centre rents stalls and cabinets to 100 private individuals who can then sell their items, this gives for a real spread of items, quality and prices –but means that its always worth a look. There were some good Fat Lava items, the pick of the bunch was probably a vibrant blue Carstens item (see pictures below).
