Pott

Tradition:

The highest production standards and over 100 years of flawless pedigree, handcrafting exclusive flatware and accessories have made the name Pott a mainstay for connoisseurs around the world. Master artisans turn Sterling silver and stainless steel into objects of extraordinary beauty and lasting value. Prestigious design awards bear testimony to the role that Pott plays in the modern table culture.

Contrary to the modern and elegant appearance of Pott flatware the production of these pieces seems almost archaic. Before any piece winds up in your hand it has gone through the hands of master craftsmen who work every tool with great dedication and patience until it has satisfied the most exacting quality requisites. Processing techniques have been passed down and refined over the decades.

Smoothing, sharpening, honing, sanding, polishing, brushing, grinding and in between stepping back and examining every detail, every nuance gets the full attention of the master craftsmen. With a trained eye and ‘music in the hands’ they perform precision work that is reminiscent of Swiss watchmakers and the cutting of diamonds. Such work cannot be replaced by computerised equipment.

The roots of the Pott manufactory go back more than 100 years:

1904. The history starts in Solingen, Germany where Carl Hugo Pott founded a workshop for the processing of damascened steel for the cutlery industry. His son Carl Pott joined the company in 1932, and as a brilliant flatware designer established the reputation that Pott enjoys today. Over the next half a century he managed to create an epic flatware program that continues to be ahead of its time.
1985. Hannspeter Pott carried on his father’s work and supplemented it with extravagant designs from leading young artists. Innovative design, functionalism and quality are the criteria to which Pott is committed.
2006. The Siebel family, in their own right successful and experienced producers of handcrafted flatware, purchased the Pott company and relocated it from Solingen to the near-by town of Mettmann.

Perfection:

Superb craftsmanship on one side and extraordinary design on the other are inseparable factors contributing to the success of every Pott product. Both can be fully attributed to Carl Pott. During his student years he became familiar with the precepts of the Werkbund and Bauhaus movements whose tenets he later adapted as both designer and entrepreneur: minimalism, function and material choice of the design and a close bonding of artistic ideas with production principles. His fixation on the ergonomics of eating continues to pervade the design of every detail until the end result satisfies one hundred percent.

Fascination: “Every shape upholds the power of an idea.”

This aphorism by Carl Pott shows how deeply engaged he was in each of his designs until they became reality. Good design implies repeatedly assessing every detail and repeatedly improving on it until the ultimate result is achieved. This is the key to the extraordinary fascination the Pott flatware has for those individuals who possess a keen sense for that which is not ordinary. It is as if they become catalysts for thoughts usually reserved for works of art, literature and music.

Creation:

Just like a painter or a sculptor approaches his art so did Carl Pott approach his work when he designed a new flatware pattern. An artist at heart he constantly worked on improving his designs and experimented with new ideas such as the chestnut leaf that in 1955 inspired the shape of the Pott 22 spoon and like most of Pott’s creations it developed into a pattern with a profusion of pieces.

Inspiration:

The many items in the Pott collection are the result of thought process about their function and their design is unending. Pott has expanded their range from ‘tools for eating’ to the ultimate in perfect design of a most comprehensive collection of useful and enticing accessories.

Innovation:

It is likely that there has never been a designer who dedicated himself so intensely and innovatively to the design of flatware and the ergonomics of eating as Carl Pott. He dedicated his entire life to ‘spoonery’ as he jokingly referred to his avocation since he always started his designs with the spoon. His opus as a designer and at the same time a entrepreneur has continued to influence the flatware industry. In the early years he encountered a great deal of opposition to his unadorned and minimalist designs but eventually the Pott style asserted itself.

During most of his life Carl Pott was in close contact with other designers of functional objects. He ran his designs by them and at the same time challenged them to develop their own flatware patterns. His credo was “I consider it to be my duty to produce not only from the fiscal point of view but as a manufacturer I also have cultural responsibilities”. This reasoning led him to persuade Hermann Gretsch, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Josef Hoffman, Elisabeth Treskow, Hans Schwippers, Paul Voss and Alexander Schaffner to design flatware for the Pott production program.

His son Hannspeter continued the tradition by enticing young deigners such as Ralph Kramer, Tobias Huys and Stefanie Hengel, to create products for the firm.

The cultural significance of the Pott program is evidenced by the over 700 awards that the various products have received worldwide, as well as the global recognition in numerous museums and design collections.

The Siebel family are well known for their own innovative role in the contemporary design culture.