The exhibition features approximately 200 of the most beautiful vessels in a variety of forms, decorated with distinctive floral motifs, created as part of the “Włocławek Faience Biennale”.
Włocławek’s ceramic traditions date back to the second half of the 19th century. Before the war, its factories were among the largest and most dynamic ceramic manufacturers in the Second Polish Republic. After 1945, the factories were merged into a single enterprise under the common name Włocławskie Zakłady Ceramiki Stołowej. In 1952, a Design Centre was established at the enterprise. At the famous factories, under the supervision of leading designers, tableware components, vases, clocks, lamps, amphorae, candlesticks, containers and decorative wall plates were produced, decorated with distinctive Kuyavian flowers in cobalt, and less commonly brown and green. Today, the traditions of Włocławek faience are continued by the private Fabryka Fajansu Włocławek.
Włocławek products were initially decorated using transfer prints and overpainting. Later, a distinctive decoration consisting of small bouquets of flowers emerged, applied with a brush. The 1930s were dominated by spray decoration using stencils, as well as decoration applied with transfer prints. In the 1950s, the floral decorative style typical of Włocławek faience emerged and was used until the 1980s.
The objects presented in the exhibition come from the Museum of the Kuyavian and Dobrzyń Land in Włocławek, which has collected and displayed local faience for many years. The exhibition at the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec is an excellent opportunity to compare the post-war ceramics of two dynamically developing centres—Bolesławiec and Włocławek. These two ceramic worlds, with different traditions and production technologies, are connected by the colours of their decoration. In both centres, cobalt ornamentation applied under the glaze to the light-coloured ceramic body prevailed.
The faience exhibition will be on display in the Ceramics Department at 13 Mickiewicz Street until mid-June 2015. Visitors are welcome from Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and on Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Ticket prices: PLN 4 (regular ticket) and PLN 2 (reduced-fare ticket).
Information from the Museum of Ceramics