Rare Hand-Painted Duck Vase by Peter and Valerie Herbst

Peter and Valerie Herbst Murrumbeena Pottery Melbourne, circa 1950, extremely rare pottery vase, hand painted with ducks in landscape, hand signed 'Val.Peter Herbst'., 9.5 cm high., potter and philosopher Peter Herbst was notable as a co-founder of the Arthur Merric Boyd (Amb) Pottery in Murrumbeena along with painters Arthur Boyd and John Perceval. Herbst was a ' Dunera ' boy, having arrived in Australia on the imfamous Hmt Dunera and wrongly interred at hay P.O.W. Camp from 1940-41, alongside the likes of George Nadel, Kurt Baier, Fred Gruen, Hugo Wolfsohn and Franz Philipp. Herbst was Emeritus Professor of philosophy at the Australian National University in Canberra. Valerie Herbst noted artist, concert pianist and Bohemian, also loomed large on the Australian post-war Art scene. They eventually retired to the historic town of Bells creek near Braidwood, New South Wales where they enjoyed the vibrant artistic local community.. Provenance: Private Collection, Southern Tablelands, New South Wales.