1949 Ferdinand Horvath Brayton Laguna UC121 Girlie Mug California Art Pottery Novelty Barware

A wonderfully provocative piece of postwar California art pottery, this figural girlie mug is Ferdinand H. Horvath design UC121, dating to 1949 and associated with Brayton Laguna Pottery of Laguna Beach, California. Horvath was a Hungarian-born artist and designer whose remarkable career included work at Walt Disney Studios during the 1930s before his association with Brayton Laguna. The underside carries the impressed Horvath identification, model UC121 and 1949 date, providing unusually strong documentation for a piece of vintage novelty pottery.

The sculptural design pairs a bright chartreuse yellow-green barrel-form mug with an unabashedly risqué female figure forming the handle. Rendered with platinum-blonde hair, rosy hand-painted details and an exaggerated pinup form, she leans dramatically against the barrel while her extended leg and foot create the lower support. The combination of California pottery, novelty barware and mid-century pinup imagery gives the piece crossover appeal for Brayton Laguna and Ferdinand Horvath collectors as well as collectors of vintage girlie mugs, risqué ceramics, pinup decor, breweriana and unusual cocktail-bar display pieces. Horvath's earlier Disney career adds another interesting dimension to the history of the designer.

Approximately 5 1/2 inches tall with a 2 5/8-inch rim diameter and approximately 6 1/4 inches across at the longest point of the base and figure. Overall crazing is present throughout, consistent with the age and glaze, and there is one chip on the underside of the woman's foot/base support as shown. No other chips or cracks were found. Please review the photographs closely for the condition and impressed underside markings of this distinctive 1949 Ferdinand Horvath California pottery design.