Carstens Tönnieshof 7803-25, 25 cm

The “Space Race” of the 60s produced its fair share of merchandise but perhaps nothing captured the zeitgeist of the era like this line from Carstens. Date and creator attribution for this line, like most of West German ceramics, is not clear. I have seen it described as “M Line” (perhaps for the German word “mond,” or moon); read it was produced as part of the “Luxus” range, which started in 1967; and found as many as five different designers associated with its creation. Fitting, perhaps, that a “space oddity” such as this would have its origin shrouded in the unknown.