Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
While the Rosenthal Porcelain Factory grew from humble decorating roots — as many pottery companies do — it eventually built a list of universally revered designer and artist partners that included Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí. And after securing an enviable position as a top manufacturer of serveware and dominating the porcelain and bone china markets, Rosenthal expanded into furniture production, working with influential designers Verner Panton, Luigi Colani and Günther Ferdinand Ris and Herbert Selldorf.
German-born Jewish businessman Philipp Rosenthal founded the company in 1879 in Bavaria. It began as his modest workshop where he painted porcelain and encountered success with porcelain ashtrays. Rosenthal hired the best designers and clay modelers he could find. Adolf Oppel designed figurative Art Nouveau pieces, while Eleonore (Lore) Friedrich-Gronau produced decorative objects, namely her graceful porcelain dancer figurines, for the company.
Dinnerware, though, would be a Rosenthal mainstay. Between 1904 and 1910, Rosenthal produced its renowned dinnerware lines such as Donatello, Darmstadt and Isolde. These were introduced as unornamented white pieces — only later were they given their underglaze designs.
Rosenthal founder Philipp, a Catholic of Jewish ancestry, resigned in 1934 as the company’s president due to pressures owing to discriminatory German laws that took shape during the rise of the Nazi regime. Rosenthal died in 1937, and the family fled to America. The company would not regain its footing until 1950 when Rosenthal’s son, Philip, joined the firm and, in 1958, became chairman and dubbed Germany’s “China King.” At its peak, the company had 10,000 employees.
In the 1950s, Rosenthal’s modernist dinnerware was a significant part of the brand’s offerings, and by 1961 they introduced the famed Rosenthal Studio Line. Although furniture designers and ceramicists would lead the list of individuals working with Rosenthal — among them Tapio Wirkkala, Max Weber and Lisa Larson — the company eventually reached out to fine artists, not only Dalí and Warhol but Sandro Chia and Kenny Scharf. Rosenthal also collaborated with fashion designers Gianni Versace and Donatella Versace.
In a daring move in 1972, the company diversified into furniture, collaborating with some of the giants of mid-century modern design. The revolutionary Sunball chair, an icon of Space Age seating crafted by Selldorf and Ris, was among Rosenthal’s stellar successes in this venture.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Rosenthal ceramics, porcelain, tableware, seating and more.
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Fiberglass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Wrought Iron
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Metal, Wire
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Cement
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Iron
Mid-20th Century French Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
Mid-20th Century French Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
2010s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Minimalist Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Resin, Fiberglass
2010s South African Modern Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Steel
2010s European Modern Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary American Minimalist Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Resin, Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Plastic
1960s Danish French Provincial Vintage Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Cement, Iron
Late 20th Century American Neoclassical Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Composition
2010s German Organic Modern Rosenthal Building and Garden Elements
Fiberglass
