Black & White Relief Vase Duo - Martin Freyer for Rosenthal, 1970s

Rosenthal Studio-Line duo by German designer Martin Freyer, pairing white bisque porcelain with matte black porcelain, both shaped by tactile relief and a restrained modernist sensibility. Freyer’s work often drew on ornamental repetition and archaic-looking surface patterns, giving these pieces a quiet tension between order, texture and monochrome contrast.

• Dimensions:
  
  • White vase: H 17 cm, W 12 cm, D 7.5 cm
    
  • Black vase: H 18 cm, W 9.5 cm, D 9.5 cm
• Material: Matte porcelain
  
• Brand: Rosenthal
  
• Designer: Martin Freyer
  
• Color: White, black
  
• Condition: Very good vintage condition
  
• Era: 1970s
  
• Origin: Germany
  
• Remarks: Duo. White vase model 3522/18, designed in 1973. The white vase has a small chip to the underside/base area, not intrusive in display.

This duo works especially well on a console, low shelf or sideboard where the black-and-white contrast can read clearly. Style it with space around it — one branch, smoked glass or dark wood nearby works well, while too many small objects or busy prints would distract from the surface detail.

Hans Martin Freyer (1909–1975) was a German painter, graphic and industrial designer whose work ranged from architecture and stage design to textiles and product design. Best known to the wider public as the creator of the refined Volkswagen VW logo in 1938, he later worked as a freelance designer of patterns, structures and reliefs. From 1964 to 1974 he designed for Rosenthal, developing sculptural relief decorations for glass and porcelain in the studio-line – most famously the Plissée vases, whose pleated, fabric-like white or black bisque surfaces remain icons of mid-century and Op-Art influenced German porcelain design.

Rosenthal, founded in 1879 in Selb, Bavaria, is one of Germany’s most important porcelain manufacturers, recognised for combining industrial production with high design standards. With its Studio-Linie programme from the 1960s onwards, Rosenthal invited international artists and designers to create avant-garde forms and décors, making pieces like this set both functional objects and design collectibles.