Ceramics from St Antönien
In the 19th century the Lötscher family from St Antönien produced crockery ceramics with colourful decor, painted tiled stoves, and modern water pipes. It was the Grisons’ most important pottery and stove-making manufacture. Their workshop was in a part of the village called Ascharina.Photo: Christian Meisser, private collection
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Stove tile made by Peter Lötscher, 1811, who was the family’s first potter. He painted the stove for his own house with motives from a French fashion journal, and decorated it with his own poems.Photo: Raetian Museum
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Writing utensils, c. 1810. The Lötscher’s imaginatively created containers for writing utensils are well known. This model, made by Andreas Lötscher, also has a stand for a pocket watch.Photo: Raetian Museum
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Wall fountain, c. 1807. In the days before there was running water in properties, well-to-do households kept this type of tin «Giessfässer» in the cupboards of their dining rooms for washing one’s hands. The Lötscher family created ceramics wall fountains, a cheaper variant for farmers.Photo: Raetian Museum
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Christian Lötscher (1821‒1880) was the most talented, innovative, and successful potter of the family. He extended the manufacturing business noticeably and also held many seats in public offices.Photo: Raetian Museum
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Leaf tile of a tiled stove, c. 1850. Christian Lötscher brought a time-saving method to St Antönien («stencil pattern»), which he had learned during his apprenticeship by the lake of Zurich.Photo: Raetian Museum
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Paper weight with the figure of a lion by Christian Lötscher, c. 1850.Photo: Raetian Museum
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Ceiling rosette made of terracotta, 1852. Christian Lötscher also created unusual items from clay since ceiling rosettes were normally carved of wood. He produced these for his own home and, with professional pride, fashioned onto them the tools of the pottery trade.Photo: Raetian Museum
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Water pipe, c. 1860. The Lötschers manufactured these with a tube press and supplied the entire Prättigau with their product.Photo: Raetian Museum
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Ascharina after the floods of 1910. By 1898 the business bowed to the pressures from outside competition and Andreas Lötscher had to cease production. A few years later a flood completely destroyed the workshop. Lötscher ceramics quickly became sought-after collectibles.Photo: Raetian Museum
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