I found my first Lantz mushroom piece a number of months ago and have been on the lookout ever since, as these are quite exquisite, and highly collectible, little things! What makes them really wonderful is their specificity--these have been used as teaching tools due to their accuracy in representing the fine details of each particular species of mushroom they portray. The name of the species--in this case it looks to be "Lycoperdong erunatum" is incised on the bottom of the piece, below "Lorenzen Lantz of N.S."
The Lantz pottery was founded in 1949 by artists Ernst and Alma Lorenzen. Ernst Lorenzen was a forester/naturalist from Denmark and Alma an Acadian from Cocagne, New Brunswick. Upon moving to Nova Scotia, they became fascinated by the diverse and plentiful fungi around them and began to create models of mushrooms they collected, developing glazes using mineral deposits collected from around the province to get true to life colors for the mushrooms. A single mushroom took about 15 days to complete from clay sculpture to final firing.
2 3/8" long x 1 3/4" wide x 1 7/8" tall and in excellent condition, without a flaw that I can see.
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