Bolesławiec is associated with pottery, and pottery with Bolesławiec. Not copper mining, not modern electronics, not even “Wizów” or the popular and rapidly developing “Ampułki”, but ordinary stoneware is the hallmark of the town on the Bóbr. A hallmark dating back several centuries as well as a contemporary one, distinctly and authentically Polish, because it was developed through the talent and work of Polish creators. And this is a significant, important fact that effectively helps us overcome our national complexes on the road to Europe. This could be seen during the opening of the COMPANY STORE OF THE “BOLESŁAWIEC” CERAMIC WORKS Ltd. on Kościuszki Street. It serves not only a commercial and promotional function, but also a cathartic and compensatory one. Exaggeration? Nothing of the sort.
Once, the chimneys of the powerful Factory of Stoneware and Sanitary Products smoked here (the popular “Fajanse” or “Mały i Duży Hoffman”). That is all that remains of the tradition, because today gas has replaced coke and coal, while aesthetic ceramic products have replaced the former large-scale construction products. This is the law of the market, but also a challenge posed by new times, different needs and expectations, and the rapid pace of the “Europeanization” of the western borderlands of the Republic of Poland. President of the Management Board Kazimierz SURMIAK spoke about this over a glass of champagne; Mayor Józef KRÓL referred to the same idea, while Janina BANY-KOZŁOWSKA, a visual artist and the author of the success and promotion of these fragile but beautiful works of ceramic art, spoke particularly emotionally about progress and artistic achievements. They have outdistanced porcelain and are valued almost at their weight in gold by connoisseurs and experts alike. Colorful, refined in every detail, modern in form and decoration, they are especially sought after by Germans, but are also renowned among Americans, Danes and French, and particularly among the Dutch. How popular and sought-after they are around the world is shown by the fact that they are “counterfeited” in faraway Hong Kong and Thailand. From Asia, more than a dozen thousand kilometers away, the fakes flow into company stores in Berlin and other major cities and world metropolises.
President Kazimierz SURMIAK spoke about 1994, a breakthrough year in the life of the factory, and about growing exports of products to the Netherlands and the USA, as well as the already traditional exports to West Germany. This brings in fast and substantial money. Building ceramics are not forgotten here either. Bank negotiations and settlements paid off, but the success was determined by the people: a well-chosen and professional workforce interested in the quality and results of its own work, which determines the level of wages. Once, the yard was covered with shells of defective products, which, after being ground again, served as raw material; today there is simply not enough of this “scrap” (ceramic waste), and it must be sourced from neighboring plants as an essential addition to stoneware bodies. This is a striking example of new thinking in economic terms, new human awareness and efficient work without quality defects, which directly contributes to the high average wages at the plant. Development is also evidenced by the steady increase in employment: from 507 people last year to 560 employees today, as well as by training young people for the professions of decorator and ceramic caster. The scale of this industrial giant is demonstrated by the fact that, for example, in the area of household stoneware it can meet domestic demand this year, while March exports reached a value of 5.5 billion złoty. To avoid falling into megalomania, however, let us focus on the aesthetics and unique, incomparable beauty of these delicate, fragile yet durable products.
This is the domain of the achievements and merits of the artist and ceramic designer Janina BANY-KOZŁOWSKA. She has been designing for 22 years in the quiet of the factory studio, but also in the intimate atmosphere of her own apartment. The impressive fruit of her great talent and enormous creative passion is nearly 600 patterns put into production. She identifies completely with her chosen profession, works with passion and finds genuine pleasure and satisfaction in it, as she makes no secret of. It is a creative profession governed by its own rules; it expresses a world of needs, talent, imagination, a passion for modeling beauty and creating. She takes pride in the patterns she designs, has an emotional connection to them and feels complete satisfaction when ceramic trinkets noble in form and carefully decorated are collected by collectors. And there is no shortage of the latter, including among foreign visitors.
She has at her disposal ceramic clays of excellent quality and knows how to make full use of this raw-material advantage. Plastic has a deceptive beauty, and we are increasingly turning away from such products. Ecological pottery, harmonized with nature, is something entirely different—the great love of Ms. Janina. She gives it her whole heart, and the effect of her creative work is astonishing and fascinating. She conjures up uniquely shaped coffee and tea sets, jugs, teapots, bowls and platters, salad bowls and saucepans, vases and flowerpots, durable pots and dozens of other small objects bearing the marks of works of applied and decorative art. The subtle yet decisive decoration is astonishing, while the splendor of the stamped decoration—traditional in Bolesławiec products several decades ago—dazzles. But this is not a copy of historical patterns; it is a new quality, an authentic contemporary artistic discovery, clearly marked by the designer’s own stamp. Without her commitment, talent and creative work, the rows of stoneware products arranged on the shop shelves would be deprived of beauty, their own life, the splendor of the colors delighting the viewer’s eye. This shop is a true art gallery, an oasis of aesthetic happiness, so it is worth crossing its threshold at least once. One enters it as if entering a sanctuary of beauty and leaves regretfully, as if leaving a fabulous treasury dazzling with colors...
Ms. Janina emphasizes the Polish roots of the ceramic “art of fire”. Our neighbors across the western border brought it to a high level, but it was the Poles who gave it perfection, lightness, universal usability and artistic value. “Every product is my child; I like it,” she states with disarming sincerity. And she immediately adds: “Porcelain can be compared with diamonds, while our pottery is jade, agates and other ornamental stones, no less beautiful and incredibly rich in color.” One need not be a connoisseur or great expert to surrender to the charm of Bolesławiec stoneware. Every product contains a part of the talent of a sensitive and gifted artist. Also a part of her great and sensitive heart. For her, the beauty, harmony and aesthetics of ceramic works of art remain the most important.