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Hedi Schoop

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Hepcats Haven

Born Apr. 3, 1906 Died Apr. 15, 1995

I promised my good friend Vic at Sponge Curlers & Cupcakes that I would blog about Hedi. Vic recently acquired a Moss lamp with a Hedi Schoop figurine similar to the one pictured below of the woman with a poodle.

Born Hedwig Schoop to a prominent family in Zurich, Switzerland, her father was editor of the Neue Zurcher Zeitung and president of Dolder Hotels. She studied sculpture, architecture, painting, and fashion design at several European art institutions including Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna and Reimann Institute in Berlin. With her sister, Trudi Schoop, she is also remembered for her work in European dance and cabaret. Fleeing the rising Nazi power, she and her husband, renowned composer and torch song writer, Friedrich Hollander, left Germany for Hollywood in 1933. In her new environment, she became an innovator of mid-century California pottery design, and became perhaps the most commercially successful California 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, and lamps 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. The factory was destroyed by fire in 1958, and shortly after that Schoop retired from ceramic design, focusing instead on painting.
In 1943 Hedi Schoop married Ernst Verebes, talented in his own right as a famous actor in European film, and with whom she had a son, Anthony Verebes. The son survives, and is a prominent Los Angeles photographer.

Frederick Hollander and Hedi Schoop

Source:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37218675

Here are some examples of her work. She designed many types of figures, TV lamps and pottery. I was introduced to her by my friend Frank when we purchased our first Moss lamp. Hedi had made a figurine that was a part of the lamp.

These are soo cool!

Really cool city scape TV lamp.

Here is a great sculpture on a Moss lamp.

Mel and I saw this at the Antique Trove in Roseville. We hesitated and lost the chance to buy it.

 

20 Comments

Posted in Nostalgia. Bookmark the permalink.

20 responses »

  1. Vickie | January 9, 2012 at 5:56 am

    Oh wow! THANK YOU so much Hepcat. I sure would like to get hold of more of her work. It’s simply beautiful. I LOVE the poodles and that ballerina up in the picture is a wowza too! Would sure love to see her paintings – maybe I can find some online. Now at least I’ll have an “eye” for her stuff if I see it. She was definitely in the “glory days” of the beautiful California pottery era.

    Thanks again, so much.

    ~Vic~

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  2. Vickie | January 9, 2012 at 7:38 pm

    I spent time this morning looking for art work – zippo. Good luck & I guess if anyone can find it, it’ll be you! And of course you’ll let me know right away, right ;- ) I’d REALLY love to see some of what she painted. Listen, I got a kick today in an antique store downtown (X Street). I asked this old guy who I know is the owner if he had any Hedi Schoop figurines – he corrected me & said no, but I could look on e-bay for HEIDI Schoop. I told him (very authoritively ;- ) it is “Hedi”, not Heidi. He was incensed. I got a kick thanks to you & Frank!

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    • hepcatrestorations | January 9, 2012 at 9:25 pm

      LOL, well I guess some people are wound up too tight. I actually searched and found one painting of flowers and the rest was pottery with images painted on them. That is all I could find. Here is a link of some of her work “link“

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  3. Anonymous | January 15, 2012 at 9:15 pm

    i have a pair of moss lamps with hedi schoop asian figurines that i fell in love with 25 years ago i went back 3 times to an antique store in turlock ca. and begged the woman who owned them to please sell them to me for less ,FINAllY she caved i bought them for 300.00 less ,i always knew i would appreciate them as much as she did & i have but I’m changing my decor & want someone to love them like we did they are on craigslist if you’d like to see them the figurines are also signed by hedi school which makes them even more collectable hope you enjoy pics

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    • hepcatrestorations | January 16, 2012 at 5:35 pm

      I would love two more Moss lamps but we are sooo lamp heavy. I don’t think I have ever seen any Hedi Schoop figurines signed that were apart of a Moss lamp, that would be very cool. If you plan to sell them I recommend eBay because a lot of the time Craigslist doesn’t have enough collectors trolling it. I can truly appreciate you wanting to make sure they go to a good home because I am attached to ours as well.

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  4. hazel | November 18, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    I really enjoyed this history and linked to it from our Facebook site. We have a pair of poodle you show in the post. They are really cool! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=525783804098474&set=pb.138873512789507.-2207520000.1353300014&type=3&theater

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  5. Katie | December 29, 2012 at 10:27 am

    I have a 3 piece set of Hedis work 2 lady figurines with flower holders and a s shaped planter to match .all signed and Hollywood ca on bottoms ladies are about 12 inches high and planter is about 12 inches long the coloring is pink and gray.exelent condition, looking to sell them could not find them anywhere to see the value can anyone. Help me.?

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  6. Heather | March 1, 2013 at 12:27 pm

    Thanks for the interesting read. I happened upon it, because I was looking for some information on a piece that I have had for years. It was my mom-mom’s and something that always loved as a child. She gave it to me years before she died. But, I was so young that I never thought to ask about the history, I just adored them. They were a pair of ladies with green baskets in their hands. I am sad to say I only have one now, the other one broke. I however have not been able to find another one similar. I would love for one day to be able to own a completed set. I am hoping maybe you can tell me more about my figurine, she is also has a gold signature on the bottom of her. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you kindly in advance.

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  7. Julia Hansen | January 23, 2014 at 9:32 am

    Hedi (yes that is correct) was a friend of my family. She & my Father worked together at one of the So California potteries in the 50’s. (not sure which one). She was a wonderful, fun & interesting person. I have one figure, a very simple lady that turns into a bowl & also one of her paintings. She only painted in later years (after the pottery business) which is why there are so few around. She painted the best Angels. It was one of her favorite subjects, also animals.

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  8. Anonymous | August 13, 2014 at 2:00 pm

    I just came across a Hedi Schoop butterfly ashtray . It has a top which is the butterfly and it open up and guess you can store extra cigarettes or matches in side. Its magenta and gold I just love the piece.
    K. March

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  9. Diane Loewen | January 31, 2016 at 6:47 pm

    My mother was a face painter for Hedi Schoop for many years. When she passed away I inherited a massive number of different Hedi Schoop figurines, vases, trays, boxes, and all sorts of pottery pieces. I have wondered about selling some of them but am not sure how to price them….

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  10. Melissa Brock | April 6, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    I own a Hedi Schoop comedy tragedy mask tv lamp. Supposed to be pretty rare. I’m looking to sell it. It’s supposed to be pretty rare. It’s in good condition. Not sure how to price it yet. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

    Melissa

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