Cup and saucer from a tea service c. 1928

Editor: We’re looking at a ceramic cup and saucer from a tea service, created around 1928 by Margarete Heymann-Marks Löbenstein. The geometry is what strikes me first – a perfect cone resting on a cylinder, with that playful, almost cartoonish handle. What do you see in this piece, beyond its obvious functionality? Curator: Well, darling, first off, that "cartoonish" handle? It's Bauhaus flirting with Dada. Imagine, after years of floral porcelain, someone dares to serve you tea from a vessel that looks like it could launch into space! I see defiance, I see a chuckle at tradition. Don’t you? It's stark, almost aggressively simple, but within that simplicity is this wild, beating heart of modernism. Editor: So it's more than just a functional object; it's a statement? Curator: Precisely! It’s a conversation starter, a little bomb of aesthetics dropped onto your perfectly starched tablecloth. The unadorned surface dares you to find beauty in form, in the sheer audacity of its geometry. Think of the social context! This was made during a time of massive social upheaval; doesn’t this piece embody the urge to shatter norms and rebuild something entirely new? Editor: That's fascinating. I initially saw it as just a quirky cup, but I completely understand the significance of those geometric choices now. Curator: And isn’t that the best thing about art, dear? It whispers its secrets when you're willing to listen, maybe over a nice, subversive cup of tea. What began as something interesting became insightful, and a great departure point to challenge social assumptions.