Iron-Red Vase & Lidded Box Set – Mario Enke Studio Pottery, 2010

Handmade stoneware vase and lidded box set by Mario Enke, finished in a deep iron-red to brown matte glaze with tactile, irregular surfaces. The two pieces reflect Enke’s restrained studio ceramic language, where rounded forms, firing marks, and textured glaze work together to create a quiet but distinctive presence.

• Dimensions:
  
  • Vase: H 15 cm, Dia. 13 cm
    
  • Lidded box: H 16.5 cm, Dia. 14.5 cm
    
• Material: Stoneware
  
• Designer: Mario Enke
  
• Color: Iron-red and brown
  
• Condition: Excellent vintage condition; signed by the artist; minor surface irregularities inherent to handmade studio pottery and firing process
  
• Era: 2010
  
• Origin: Germany
  
• Remarks: Set of two; handmade studio ceramics

Place the two together on a console, shelf, or sideboard so the contrast between open and closed form reads clearly. Keep the styling spare—the vase works well with a few dry branches, while the box adds weight and texture on its own.

Mario Enke (b. 1948) trained as a master potter in Bürgel (Thuringia), one of Germany’s historically significant ceramic centres, and has maintained an independent studio practice since the mid-1970s. He operated his own workshop in Kienwerder near Potsdam from 1976 to 1993 and has worked since then from Lindaunis in Schleswig-Holstein. Enke has been a member of the International Academy of Ceramics (AIC, Geneva) since 1985 and was associated with professional ceramic education and master training during the 1970s and 1980s. His work has been exhibited in specialist galleries, including a notable solo presentation at Galerie Theis in 1990, and is documented in ceramic archives and authority files relating to German studio pottery. 1991 he became a member of the exclusive and renowned Ceramics Group '83. While never aligned with industrial production or academic formalism, Enke’s oeuvre is well regarded within specialist ceramic circles and appears regularly on the international secondary market.