Bright colors, geometric patterns, and avant-garde shapes: The Bröhan Museum’s collection includes more than 350 cake stands.
Image gallery
Plattensammlung. Spritzdekor-Keramik aus dem Bröhan Museum
Almost all date from the Weimar Republic era and blend influences from Art Deco, Bauhaus, Cubism, and Constructivism. They tell a story of design as well as everyday life, and of how modern art conquered the domestic coffee table.
The exhibition highlights the rise of the cake plate in Germany from the 1920s through its peak around 1930. During this period, sharing coffee at home evolved into an important social ritual for the growing middle class. A carefully set table served as a means of self-expression, and the tableware reflected taste and modernity.
At the same time, machine-based production processes made inexpensive mass-produced goods possible. The ceramics industry expanded and developed a multitude of new shapes and designs. In particular, the colorful spray-painted designs, applied using stencils, opened up a wide range of creative possibilities.
Thus, the cake plate evolved from a luxury item into an affordable everyday object and a symbol of modern consumer culture.
The works on display come primarily from the collection of Fritz Zuschlag and Bodo Wieneke-Zuschlag, which was donated to the Bröhan Museum in 2022.
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