Laeuger, Max (1864 - 1952)

German painter, architect, designer and ceramist. Before 1884 he studied painting and interior design at the school of applied arts in Karlsruhe; in 1894 he was given a teaching post at the same school, followed by a professorship in 1899; at the same time, he was appointed dean at the technical college of the same town. He made his first ceramics in Joseph Armbruster’s workshop in Kandem. In 1892 and 1893 he studied at the Julian Academy in Paris. Between 1895 and 1913 he was the art director of Prof. Laeuger’sche Kunsttöpferei, Townwerke Kandem. From 1896 he also worked for the Mayer stove factory in Karlsruhe (Karlsruher Ofenfabrik Mayer). His Jubilee Vase, commissioned by La Maison Modeme, was exhibited at the Paris International Exhibition of 1900, winning a gold medal. Between 1904 and 1933 he was a professor at the Technical College of Karlsruhe. His works were greeted with acclaim at the St Louis World Exhibition of 1904. He was a founding member of the Deutscher Werkbund (1907). His ceramics won a Grand Prix at the Brussels World Exhibition of 1910.