Metawa Tiel | 'Rita' Hand-Painted Metal Vase | Model 1529 | Art Deco

Metawa Tiel | ‘Rita’ Hand-Painted Metal Vase | Model 1529 | Art Deco

Gouda’s painted pottery lent its flowers to a metal vase, and they bloom here just as boldly.

Metawa was a metalware manufacturer in Tiel, in the Netherlands, producing decorative and domestic objects through much of the twentieth century. Among its earlier wares were brightly painted metal vases whose floral designs echoed the Dutch art pottery associated with Gouda. This ‘Rita’ vase belongs to that tradition, pairing an Art Deco outline with boldly drawn flowers and foliage.

The vase has a full, rounded body that narrows to a short neck and a wide, flared rim. It is hand-painted on a black ground with a large stylised flower in yellow and orange, surrounded by sweeping leaves and shapes in red, teal, blue and cream, each outlined in gold colour. The neck and rim are plain black. The base is painted in yellow “METAWA. TIEL”, “RITA” and the model number 1529.

Good condition. The hand-painted decoration on the body remains bright and well preserved. There is paint loss to the inside and upper surface of the flared rim, showing the metal beneath, and scuffing to the base.

Key Details

• Maker: Metawa, Tiel, Holland
• Range and model: ‘Rita’, model 1529
• Period: Art Deco, c. 1920–1940
• Material: hand-painted metal
• Marks: painted to the base “METAWA. TIEL”, “RITA”, “1529”
• Dimensions: height 12.5 cm; diameter 15 cm
• Weight: 285 g
• Condition: good; paint loss to the inside and top of the rim; scuffing to the base
• Buyer profile: collectors of Dutch Art Deco and Gouda-style decoration, and anyone looking for a colourful piece of Dutch metalware

Collector Appeal

‘Rita’ pieces bring the colours and flowing outlines of Gouda pottery to painted metal, a less familiar pairing. This vase keeps its painted maker, range and model inscriptions, and its rounded body gives the floral decoration an uninterrupted surface.

Paint on metal is a fragile partnership; where it survives, it carries the colours of its decade forward.