In the aftermath of World War II, many commercial potteries were established in Australia to satisfy the market disrupted by hostilities, particularly for Japanese and European imports. While some of these new commercial potteries were established by immigrants from war-ravaged Europe, Henning Alfred Rathjen (1903–1968) was one of the Australian-born artists who established a new pottery studio to cater for local demand and post-war innovations in art pottery. Rathjen established his eponymous pottery studio in Melbourne in 1948, producing quality slip-cast wares over the next 20 years. His production moved away from standard 1940s designs, with applied flowers or incised designs and textured surfaces, as he gradually developed unusual shapes, different glazes and contrasting, flamboyantly coloured glazes. He sold his pottery studio in 1968, just before his unexpected death a few months later.