It was an extraordinary event attended by more than 150 guests from Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. Among those attending the opening were representatives of partner institutions: director of Krkonošského muzeum Vrchlabí Blanka Zázvorková and Jiří Louda, Olga Metelková, Jana Skálová, Radka Řezničková, deputy director of Severočeského muzeum v Liberci, Dr Kateřina Nováková, Petra Šťovíčková, Oldřich Palata, Miroslav Klaban, deputy director of Schlesisches Museum zu Görlitz, Dr Martin Kügler and Dr Johanna Brade, from the Wałbrzych Museum Jadwiga Kornecka-Cebula and Edyta Patro, as well as from the Regional Museum in Lubań Grzegorz Jaworski. Also present were researchers and enthusiasts of Bolesławiec stoneware: Helga Heinze from Bad Muskau, Peter Hesse from Wassbüttel and Bolko Peltner from Höhr-Grenzhausen. A large group consisted of ceramic collectors who lent exhibits for the exhibition and catalogue: Tomasz Czerniawski, Stanisław Czerniawski, Lech Gut, Andrzej Kaziuk, Norbert Mischok, Piotr Nieratka, Izabela Olszowy, Bolko Peltner, Andrzej Prusiecki and Andrzej Wójcik.
The exhibition presents several hundred objects, making it possible to show the variety of forms and the richness of decorative motifs found in 18th- and 19th-century ceramics. The first group comprises vessels decorated with diagonal ribbing, while the second consists of wares decorated with applied elements in various forms and ornamental motifs. Vessels decorated with painted ornamentation are represented only sparsely.
Against this background, the 19th-century vessels created according to designs by C.D.F. Bach at the E.S. Gotthard factory in Bolesławiec stand out particularly, as do wares from J.G. Altmann’s pottery, awarded a gold medal at the First World’s Fair in London in 1851. They are characterized by extraordinary delicacy, elegant forms and refined decoration. Many of the objects are being presented at the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec for the first time.
During the opening, the Museum presented a publication issued for the occasion, containing a catalogue and scholarly essays on Bolesławiec artistic ceramics of the 18th and 19th centuries. The authors of this more than 350-page Polish-Czech-German publication are: Anna Bober-Tubaj, Libor Dušek, Barbara Glinkowska, Johanna Kutschera, Jiří Louda, Oldřich Palata and Tadeusz Orawiec.
The catalogue is dedicated to remarkable people who have been associated with ceramics for many years: Bogdanowi Góreckiemu , longtime head of the Ceramics Department at the National Museum in Wrocław, Oldřichowi Palacie, curator at Severočeského muzeum v Liberci, and Steffi i Georgowi Peltnerom, now-deceased collectors of Bolesławiec ceramics and founders of a pottery in Höhr-Grenzhausen.
The publication “Bolesławiec Artistic Ceramics in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Selected Types of Decoration in Polish, Czech and German Collections” is already the fourth volume in a series of studies on specific issues related to the history of local ceramics, published recently by the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec. Previous catalogues were published in 2008, 2012 and 2013.
The exhibition and catalogue were prepared through cooperation with several dozen museums from Poland and abroad. These include: Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, Philipps-Universität, Haus Schlesien, Königswinter-Heisterbacherrott, Krkonošské muzeum Vrchlabí, Kulturhistorisches Museum Görlitz, Legnicka Biblioteka Publiczna, Městské muzeum Dvůr Králové nad Labem, Mĕstské muzeum Hořice, Muzeum Górnośląskie w Bytomiu, Muzeum Karkonoskie w Jeleniej Górze, Muzeum Narodowe w Gdańsku, Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, Muzeum Narodowe w Poznaniu, Muzeum Narodowe w Szczecinie, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, Muzeum Narodowe we Wrocławiu, Muzeum Okręgowe w Toruniu, Muzeum Podkrkonoší v Trutnově, Muzeum Regionalne w Jaworze, Muzeum w Gliwicach, Muzeum w Nysie, Muzeum Ziemi Kujawskiej i Dobrzyńskiej we Włocławku, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston, Regionální muzeum a galerie v Jičíně, Severočeské muzeum v Liberci, Schlesisches Museum zu Görlitz and Uměleckoprůmyslové museum v Praze.
“Bolesławiec Artistic Ceramics in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Selected Types of Decoration in Polish, Czech and German Collections” is one of the largest and most important recent projects devoted to ceramics, carried out by Museum of Ceramics staff and continuing earlier research into local stoneware conducted since 2008.
The exhibition and publication were prepared by the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec in cooperation with Krkonošské muzeum in Vrchlabí as part of the “VIA FABRILIS – Craft Traditions Route II” project, co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund under the Czech Republic – Republic of Poland 2007–2013 Cross-Border Cooperation Operational Programme.
The exhibition will be on display until 21 December 2014 in the City History Department of the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec at 14 Kutuzowa Street. Admission to the exhibition is free.