PurplePrice Mag · · 2 min read
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Rosenthal is the best-known name in twentieth-century German porcelain. Born as a decorating workshop, after the war it became one of the companies that brought modern design to the table, inviting architects, designers and artists from all over the world to design services, vases and objects.
Origins in Selb
In 1879 Philipp Rosenthal opened a porcelain painting workshop in Erkersreuth Castle, in Upper Franconia, decorating white porcelain bought from nearby factories. In 1891 the business moved to nearby Selb, the centre of Bavarian porcelain, and became a factory; in the following decades Rosenthal bought other manufacturers. In the 1930s Philipp Rosenthal, of Jewish origin, was forced out of the company by the Nazi regime; he died in 1937.
Philip Rosenthal and the Studio-Linie
The turning point came with his son Philip Rosenthal, who returned from exile, joined the company in 1950 and from 1952 led its design department. Convinced that contemporary art and design should improve everyday life, he created the Studio-Linie, a collection by designers such as Raymond Loewy, Tapio Wirkkala, Timo Sarpaneva, Elsa Fischer-Treyden, Verner Panton, Luigi Colani and the Dane Bjørn Wiinblad. In 1960 the first Rosenthal Studio-Haus opened in Nuremberg, the first shop of a chain devoted to design.
The most famous relationship was with Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus: for Rosenthal he designed the TAC tea service, a new factory in Selb (1964–1967) and the Thomas glassworks in Amberg, known as the “glassmakers' cathedral”.
Rosenthal today
From 1997 Rosenthal belonged to the Anglo-Irish Waterford Wedgwood group; when that group collapsed it became insolvent in 2009 and the same year was bought by the Italian Sambonet Paderno Industrie. Its headquarters remain in Selb. Alongside the Studio-Linie, since 1992 it has made luxury porcelain with Versace. The historical archive, with about 15,000 pieces including works by Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol, is shown at the Porzellanikon in Selb.
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