"fatlava" Ashtray "pestle And Mortar" By Marius Giuge.

"Mortar and pestle" ashtray by Marius Giuge.

The white color is speckled with black and brown cells that contrast with the transparent enamel. Some signs of wear on the cigarette holders, but otherwise in perfect condition. The technique used to achieve this effect involved adding chemical compounds to the enamel. Depending on the chosen proportions, variations in the size and depth of the cells were achieved.

This design, invented by Marius Giuge, inspired the "Fat Lava" ceramics, very popular in Germany in the late 1960s and 1970s. An emblematic piece from Marius Giuge's production of the 1960s and 1970s, it is signed on the underside: MG – VALLAURIS – AM for "Marius Giuge – Vallauris – Alpes-Maritimes".

Marius Giuge, an emblematic figure of Vallauris (1909-1980), lived through the prosperous post-war years, creating pieces with classic shapes and sometimes kitschy glazes. He inherited the know-how of his father, Philippe, who settled in Vallauris, from whom he learned the potter's trade. In 1947, he opened his own workshop. He initially worked on traditional pieces before specializing in decorative ceramics. An excellent potter, his workshops enjoyed great success.

In the late 1960s, he developed his famous "foam" decoration, achieved by adding chemicals to the glaze to create variations in the size and depth of the craters. This decoration, applied to large pieces with forms inspired by ancient Greece, is emblematic of his work. It was later adopted in West Germany by the industrialized factories of the post-war period, which in turn developed the "Fat Lava" decoration.

In 1975, Marius Giuge passed his workshop on to his daughter, also a ceramicist, thus perpetuating a family tradition. Faced with the consequences of the oil crisis, the workshop closed its doors permanently in 1980 (the year of Marius Giuge's death).