HELMUT SCHÄFFENACKER STUDIO POTTERY OWL/PAPERWEIGHT

A petit studio pottery owl from the studio of Helmut Schäffenacker. HELMUT FRIEDRICH SCHÄFFENACKER (1921-2010) was born on July 5, 1921, in Ulm, Germany, the son of the painter Otto Schäffenacker. He completed an apprenticeship with the sculptor Rudolf Pauschinger in Stuttgart. After completing his studies in painting and sculpture, he founded "Atelier Schäffenacker" in Ulm in 1948. There he painted and created sculptures made of wood and stone and began to work as a ceramist. The number of his studio employees (including apprentices) rose from four in 1950 to ten in 1965. Schäffenacker's first designs were for everyday objects such as vases, ashtrays, and bowls. In the second half of the '50s, wall panels with relief decorations emerged, primarily with figurative motifs—mostly of highly stylized animals—and still lifes. His sculptures also frequently took animal form—owls, birds, and bulls. Later, the shapes of everyday objects would develope more and more sculpturally, and the motifs