Tall early 20th century (style?) pottery vase, drip glaze, signed

28 cm high, heavy pottery vase, dark green glaze with black painted floral pattern, partly covered in a glossy purple/blue drip glaze.

To me it looks like Art Nouveau / Ard Deco style (but I may be wrong by several decades :-))

Base has a signature I cannot decipher (something like "Legler"?), and some strange marks "II II II...."

Pics don't do the piece justice, really difficult to photograph due to the glossy surface...

Thanks for any help!
Michael

Polite bump :)

Anyone else thinking this is probably an early 20th century piece? -- As I know next to nothing about pottery from that period I could be completely wrong...

Thanks!
Michael

it does look like that to me and it could be french but it has certain crude aspects that are strange

Thanks a lot tenpot!

You're absolutely right about the crude aspects (though it does look better in real life than on my crappy pics)
The signature could well be a French name...

Were there smaller ("studio" type) potteries at that time already? Maybe it is sort of an "arts and crafts" potter?

Michael

Polite bump ;-)

Searching for something completely different, I stumbled across pieces by several French art potters from around 1900, whose pieces (and especially glazes) look quite similar to my vase.

Adrien Dalpayrat >> Link
Auguste Delaherche >> Link
Emile Decoeur >> Link
Raoul Lachenal >> Link

Could my vase have anything to do with one of those makers?

Thanks for any input,
Michael

It does look French, as does the signature but I do not think that it is as old as you think. I would be very surprised if it was made before 1960.

Thanks a lot for your thoughts, very much appreciated! :-)

As I know next to nothing about Art Nouveau / Arts and Crafts pottery, the vase may well have been made 10 or 100 years ago.
But I would be interested to learn which features point towards 1960s or later...

Thanks!
Michael

The colour of the stoneware clay that it is made from (as seen on the base) is definitely not early 20th century. The type of glaze could be but the shape of the vase is not that early.

Thanks for clarification, studio-pots!

I had thought that the shape was the main feature pointing towards earlier production.
I still have a lot to learn...

Michael

The shape isn't new and based on something earlier but for me there are signs that indicate the date I've suggested. It is something that you pick up through experience, we all have to go through the same process but these days we have the benefit of the internet. If used it will cut down on the time it needs to gain knowledge but there really isn't anything better than handling items.

Thanks again! :-)

Michael