COMPLIMENTARY COPY
VOL. 43, NO. 18 FRIDAY MAY 4, 2012
Published Weekly By Joel Sater Publications www.antiquesandauctionnews.net
Hedi vs. Kay: The Case Of The ‘Copied’ Ceramics Text & Photos by Donald-Brian Johnson
Born in 1906 in Switzerland, Schoop spent her
ceramics designer of the postwar period, and certainly the most ubiquitous. If a Schoop figure proved popular with consumers, an entire line of accompanying décor objects, such as planters, bowls, ashtrays, and candy dishes, would be built around it. At its busiest in the late 1940s, the studio produced over 30,000 giftware items per year, and employed over fifty workers. Hedi Schoop figurines are largely representational, and achieve their visual
rom the Los Angeles Times, Left: Girl with oversize flower April 25, 1942: “Injunction Won by basket, head scarf fashioned of Sculptress: Former Kaye’s “lace”. 10” h., $100 to Employee Accused of Copying $125. Right: Hedi Schoop’s “Tyrolean Girl” strikes a similar Her Creations” pose, but the rest of the interpre“Suit for an injunctation is markedly different. tion in which Hedi 11-1/2” h., $75 to $100. Schoop, sculptress, complained that a former employee had copied her line of statuettes, figurines, and other bric-a-brac to compete against her commercially was decided in her favor yesterday by Superior Judge Arthur Guerin. “The court granted Miss Schoop an injunction restraining Miss early Katherine Schuefftan, years impact described as the former studying employee, from displaysculpture, fash- t h r o u g h ing and selling the line ion design, and o v e r a l l which Miss Hedi Schoop acting. With shape and complained is like or very Hollander, she size, rather similar to hers. fled Nazi Germany in t h a n “Originally, Miss Hedi the early 1930s, settling in t h r o u g h Schoop also had asked for Hollywood, where his composing m i n u t e $10,000 damages, but the mone- career flourished. detailing. tary plea was dropped during the In her new environment, Hedi The figtrial.” amused herself by creating plaster ures are It may not have been front- dolls, which she then painted and o f t e n page news, but this early 1940s dressed in fashions of the day. A caught in lawsuit, pitting one California successful showing of the dolls at a motion — ceramist against another, had all Los Angeles department store a r m s the drama of All About Eve, (at prompted Schoop to adapt extended, least in the decorative arts world.) her ideas to a more permaskirts An established design diva spouts nent medium: ceramics. aflutter, fire when an up-and-comer, (even Early slip-cast figures sold heads worse, a former employee), well from her small bowed — but that motion is attempts to make inroads on her workshop, and a fluid and home turf? What a conversation- larger, North unhurried. starter at the next giftware-buyers Hollywood facility, Rough and gathering! Hedi Schoop Art incised textures The adversaries: ethereal, and Creations, opened combine with wildly popular ceramics queen in 1940. The smooth ones; Hedi Schoop, versus her former impact was colorprotégé, the equally talented immediate, as ful Katherine Schuefftan, (known evidenced by the professionally as Kay McHugh, praise lavreleasing ceramics under the i s h e d markings “Kaye” and Left: Kaye’s “Kaye of Hollywood”). Chinese woman As they say on those with baskets, datTV shows, “the litigants ing from 1948. are on their way into the Note the applied “lace” courtroom—right now!” head scarf, a signature of The Plaintiff: Miss the “Kaye of Hollywood” style. 9-1/2” h., $75 to Schoop $100. Right: Hedi Hedi Schoop could Schoop’s version of a have been a ‘40s film star. basket-carrier, a comShe had an unusual first mon theme in 1940s name, pronounced just like ceramics. “Conchita”, 12-1/2” h., $125 to $150. Hedy Lamarr’s. She had sultry cover-girl looks, reminis- on Hedi that year in a Los Angeles glossy glazes cent of Lauren Bacall. She had an Times ad for Barker Bros.: contrast with bisque. Her exotic overseas background, on “We searched out the creator of subjects — ethnic dancers, the order of Marlene Dietrich. these appealing flower and candle musicians, peasant boys There were even glamorous holders, and found a young lady and girls — are capHollywood connections: her sis- from Switzerland, looking remark- tured at a specific ter was acclaimed ballerina Trudi ably like her own wistful little moment in time. Schoop, her husband, famed flower girls. Her name is Hedi While figurines movie composer Frederick Schoop, and she creates the most by many Hollander. (Among his hits: the charming pottery figures we’ve d e s i g n e r s languid “Falling in Love Again”.) ever seen. She tells us she not only create a Instead, Schoop opted for life designs the pieces, but does all the m o v i n g as a ceramics designer. And, molding and coloring, so that every p i c while her come-hither personal piece is very much her own execu- ture, a appeal no doubt caused dowdier tion. Very whimsical and smart!” figurine contemporaries to shake their Many Hedi Schoop figurines by Hedi bunned heads in dismay, it was came equipped for secondary uses Schoop is a talent that made Schoop one of — from flower-holders and wall c a p t i v a t i n g the most popular (and most imi- pockets, to candlesticks and soap still photo. tated) ceramic artists of the 1940s dishes. Hedi was perhaps the most The Defendant: Miss McHugh and ‘50s. commercially successful California Unfortunately, the broadly
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drawn features, soft colors, and rippling garments of Schoop’s oversize figurines and planters made them easy to copy. During the height of her career, similar designs were turned out by a variety of other California ceramic firms, usually run by former Schoop employees. The most notable: one-time Schoop decorator Kay McHugh (Katherine Schuefftan). It was McHugh’s line of ceramics, first marketed as “ K a y e Figurines”, which resulted in that 1942 court injunction. Over the
Left: Kim W a r d “Dutch Couple”, 51/2” h., 5” h., $20 to $30/pr. Right: Hedi Schoop’s earlier riff on a similar Dutch theme: “My Sister & I”, 11” h., $175 to $200/pr.
years, Kay McHugh’s reputation as a ceramist has suffered, not only because of the Schoop controversy, but also because of an inferior line of ceramics produced by her ex-husband Peter Schuefftan in the late 1940s. ( Schuefftan used McHugh’s designs for these figurines, released under the name “Kim Ward Ceramics”.) McHugh’s own originality and distinctive style, present in both her “Kaye”, and later “Kaye of Hollywood” figurines, have too often been overshadowed by those long-ago legal machinations. She’s been relegated to the role of furtive copyist, rather than being recognized as a talented artist in h e r o w n right.
Her son, editor and author Kim Schuefftan, offered these comments on his mother’s career, the Schoop lawsuit, and its aftermath: “The Schoop incident remains somewhat mysterious, as does the early relationship between Hedi Schoop and my parents, Peter Schuefftan and Kay McHugh. “Hedi Schoop started out in partnership with them, making pottery at a location on Ve n t u r a Boulevard n e a r Coldwater Canyon in the S a n Fernando Valley. To the best of my knowledge, neither my mother or father worked ‘for’ Hedi Schoop. Rather, as noted, the three had some kind of partnership. However, I have no idea who financed that first, short-lived pottery effort, so legally Hedi might possibly have been ‘boss’. Around 1940, the pottery moved to 5004 Vineland in North Hollywood. Shortly thereafter, Schoop sued McHugh who, with Schuefftan, was producing a line of ceramics under the name ‘Kaye Figurines’. “My parents then divorced. Peter Schuefftan moved to Fletcher Road and started his own pottery, ‘Kim Ward Ceramics’, unfortunately naming it after his son (me), and using McHugh’s designs. The ‘Kim Ward’ designs changed somewhat, as the old plaster molds wore out. ‘Kim Ward Pottery’ ceased operations in about 1950, when my father took employment as a salesman with Metlox. “Kay McHugh renamed her pottery ‘Kaye of Hollywood’, moved the plant to Burbank after the war, then sold it in about 1948. New and rather tacky designs were added after that. “As for the copying problem that was the basis of Hedi Schoop’s lawsuit, at this point there seems little means of determining its validity. My mother was a member of the first graduating (Continued on page 2)
Left: Two Kaye wall pocket vases, with fan skirts 9” h., $175 to $200/pr.. Right: Hedi Schoop’s graceful “Blue Dancers” kick up their heels, also showing off fanned skirts, 12-1/2” h., $275 to $300/pr.