Cup and Saucer

Born in Austria, Gertrud and Otto Natzler collaborated on their ceramics from the early 1930s until Gertrud's death in 1971. They were primarily self-taught artists, although Otto had training in textile design. The Natzlers established their first studio in 1935, rejecting the current fashion for ornate ceramics in favor of simple, classical forms with decorative glazes. Gertrud threw the pots and Otto developed intricate and sophisticated glazes to give a variety of surface textures. In 1939, they emigrated to the United States where they settled in Los Angeles and continued to create refined ceramic pieces, such as this grey-glazed delicately thrown cup and saucer.