Yvette Klein Pottery @museum.de

M: It all started in 1990 with two potter's wheels and a kiln:

F: Master potter Yvette Klein and her husband, Andreas Wuschansky, bought an old farm in Rodigast, a district of Bürgel along the B7 highway, and set up their workshop there.

M: By then, Yvette Klein had worked in almost all of the local potteries, and she now set about developing her own shapes and décors, based on Bürgel traditions. She studied the Ceramics Museum's display collection in search of inspiration for her own range, and found pots and vases with filigree floral decoration in the engobe technique, which was once very popular in Bürgel.

F: Those traditional pieces inspired Yvette Klein's meadow pattern, which features stalks and blossoms, painted freehand on to the leather-hard clay: The engobe, dyed slip (or liquid clay), is applied line by line and dot by dot on to the unglazed, bisque fired pots. Over the years, Yvette Klein has expanded on the meadow pattern and developed ornaments in the shape of stylised umbels, poppy seed capsules and many other details.

M: Whilst the delicate drawings take pride of place in the meadow pattern, Yvette Klein's other ranges feature bright, luminous colours: Bürgel's traditional blue and white has been replaced by a bold, fresh red and white. Tiny clay bells and stylised flowers are embellished with colourful spirals…These pieces are intended as garden ornaments...

F: ... as are her oversized snail shells, globes and heads that maintain a decorative presence in the garden all year round. They're winter-proof, and their simple, pared-down shapes are quite unlike the everyday pots with their wealth of detail. The entire product range can be viewed in Yvette Klein's showrooms. And customers with particular wishes or ideas are warmly welcomed by this versatile potter.