Goebel Art Deco Pottery

Art Deco Output (1920s-1930s)

The Art Deco period at Goebel, particularly from 1921 into the 1930s, saw the company embrace the fashionable, modern styles characterized by geometric shapes, streamlined forms, and a sense of luxury and modernity. The influence of Art Deco emerged when Max Louis Goebel, after working in the US market, took over the company's direction in 1911, bringing a progressive and artistic outlook.

Key Characteristics of Art Deco Goebel

• Figurines: Goebel produced striking Art Deco figurines that diverged sharply from the sentimental, classical, or Rococo styles of earlier years. These pieces often featured:

* Stylized Human Forms: Elegant dancers, ladies in flowing or dramatic period costumes, and sometimes figures with a slightly exotic or theatrical flair.

* Animals: Bold, stylized animal figures, such as dogs (like Terriers or Greyhounds), and polar bears, often captured in characteristic poses.

• Vases and Dishes: Utilitarian and decorative wares adopted the geometric patterns and clean lines of the movement.

• Color and Glaze: Pieces utilized bright, sometimes contrasting colors, and occasionally featured lustre glazes or crackled finishes (crackleware), adding to their decorative appeal.

• Collectability: Goebel's Art Deco ceramics, especially the stylish figurines and wall plaques of the era, are now highly sought after by collectors, as they represent a fascinating shift away from the traditional styles the company later became primarily known for (Hummel).

Broader Goebel Context

The Art Deco period was a critical phase of innovation for Goebel, but it was quickly followed and ultimately overshadowed by their most famous collection:

• M.I. Hummel Figurines: In 1935, Goebel began producing the extremely popular and distinctive collection of figurines based on the drawings of Franciscan Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel. These charming, sentimental, and often 'kitsch' figures of rosy-cheeked children became the company's biggest commercial success and global identifier, particularly after World War II, largely defining the public perception of Goebel pottery.

In the decades following the Art Deco era, Goebel continued to diversify, creating figurines of Walt Disney characters in the 1950s and, more recently, launching the Artis Orbis collection, which reproduces masterpieces of famous artists like Gustav Klimt and Claude Monet on porcelain objects.

The extensive output of Hummel figures, each with its own distinctive shape name and standing between about 4.5 to 5 inches tall, was very popular in the 1950's and 60's. Names include (in alphabetical order);

• A Fair Measure

• Apple Tree Boy

• Auf Wiedersehen

• Be Patient

• Birthday Seranade

• Chicken Licken

• Coffee Break

• Coquettes

• Doll Bath

• Easter Time

• Eventide

• Feeding Time

• Let's Sing

• Letter to Santa

• Little Bookkeeper

• Little Fiddler

• Little Hiker

• Little Pharmacist

• Little Tailor

• Meditation

• Playmates

• Sensitive Hunter

• Shepherd's Boy

• Signs of Spring

• Smiling Through

• Soloist

• Star Gazer

• Strolling Along

• The Photographer

• Timid Little Sister

• Valentine Joy

• Wayside Harmony

• We Congratulate

• White Angel Holy Water Font