Collectors of Modernist china are beginning to discover connoisseurship. Everyone has Russel Wright, whether originals or repros. Ben Seibel and Eva Zeisel sell so briskly, one wonders where all the vintage pieces have been hiding all these years. Perennial best-seller Dansk is trading for handsome sums on the auction sites. Modernist tabletop is suddenly everywhere, and a certain boredom is setting in with collectors who like to be on top of what's next.

One solution to collecting ennui is German Modernist porcelain, an underappreciated and undervalued area. Beginning in the days of the Bauhaus, German designers created some of the most lyrically beautiful, unadorned shapes ever seen, and you could do worse than to pick some up now, while it's affordable.

Two manufacturers are responsible for most of Germany's really famous Modernist designs- KPM and Arzberg. Beginning in 1930, they began producing dinnerware like nothing ever seen before in Europe. KPM (Konigliche Porzellan Manufaktur) was first, with its "Urbino" range designed by Trude Petri (picture at the top of this article). This pristine, undecorated service was revolutionary in its day; the severe coupe shape was so relentlessly functional that soup plates did not have rims. The design was awarded a gold medal at the Milan Triennale of 1936, and a Grand Prix at the Paris World's Fair the year after. Still available today, "Urbino" has been knocked off for decades, and since 1997, has been available in a decorated version, "Canto".

(Left to right) Arzberg's "Form 1382", designed by Dr. Hermann Gretsch, "Form 2000", designed by Heinrich Lõffelhardt, and "Form 2025", also by Lõffelhardt.

Not to be outdone, Arzberg introduced its "Form 1382" range, designed by Dr. Hermann Gretsch, in 1931. "Form 1382" was not quite as severe as KPM's "Urbino", but was just as functional. Like "Urbino", it's still available new. Both "Urbino" and "Form 1382" were excellent sellers in their day, even if the rise of the Third Reich and World War II did cause disruptions at both manufacturers. In 1947, tea and coffee services were added to the "Urbino" range.

By the early 1950's, Germany's postwar recovery was well enough underway so that new designs could be contemplated, and Arzberg launched one of its best in 1954, capturing a prize at that year's Milan Triennale. Called "Form 2000", the biomorphic shapes were designed by Heinrich Lõffelhardt, who had been an assistant to Wilhelm Wagenfeld. "Form 2000" is still in production in its classic plain white version; Germany's Federal Chancellory has a specially decorated "Form 2000" service for use when dinners are held for visiting dignitaries.

Not content with one win in Milan, Lõffelhardt and Arzberg bagged another at 1957's Triennale for "Form 2025", more elegantly attenuated than "Form 2000", and available in both plain white porcelain and decorated versions. Sadly, "Form 2025" is out of production, so assembling a service is somewhat more difficult than for the other designs mentioned here, since new pieces aren't available to "fill in" what can't be found more cheaply in the aftermarket.

Collectors who are inspired to look for one of these four designs should be aware that a great deal of copying has taken place over the years, notably by Japanese and Chinese manufacturers. For years, Pier One has offered a range of coupe-shaped white porcelain that can easily be mistaken for either "Urbino" or "Form 2000". Both KPM's and Arzberg's porcelains are marked on the bottom of each piece; knock-offs are usually unmarked. If you find anything marked "H.I.C.", you've unearthed a Taiwanese copy sold by the Harold Import Company in the Eighties or Nineties. The impeccable feel and finish of German originals is not found in copies, which generally have some roughness, waviness, or glaze runs.

Rosenthal is also noted for its modernist porcelain dinnerware designs, some of which were designed by Raymond Loewy. However, these designs are well-established collectibles, and command excellent prices; the expense of assembling a complete service puts them well out of Future Bets territory.

If you're interested in having dinnerware of the highest physical quality, with an unimpeachable Bauhaus design pedigree, you can't do better than German porcelain, and if you move now, you can have it for much less than everyone else will be paying in a year or two. Don't say we didn't tell you!

For more information on Arzberg and KPM designs, visit these sites:

SKV-Arzberg: http://www.skv-arzberg.com
The official manufacturer's site, with great information on its designs, designers, and company history, in both German and English.

KPM: Königlichen Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin
A page with pictures of many of KPM's designs, both past and present.