Published: 2019-07-14

Ćmielów stoneware at industrial fairs in the 19th century

Bożena Kostuch
Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej
Section: Studies and Materials
DOI https://doi.org/10.23858/KHKM67.2019.2.006

Abstract

Ćmielów is nowadays associated chiefly with the production of porcelain but in the 19th c. the manufactory also produced other kinds of pottery. Among the most popular ones was stoneware, present in the factory’s offer since the 1820s, with an apogee of its production in the 1870s and 1880s. Prominent in the factory’s output were various kinds of kitchenware and household dishes, covered with chocolate-coloured clay glaze contrasting with white insides. It also offered decorative items, e.g. ceramic stools. Ćmielów stoneware dishes won many prizes at industrial fairs in Poland and abroad; they were praised in the press for their high quality and practicality. Ćmielów stoneware has not interested many researchers so far; there are few samples in museums and private collections. The National Museum in Cracow has the largest collection, consisting of about 90 dishes. Most of them were donated in 1881 to the Museum of Technology and Industry in Cracow by Kazimierz Cybulski, the owner of the Ćmielów factory. The article surveys the industrial fairs at which Ćmielów stoneware was displayed in the 19th c., as well as some press articles and notes connected with this topic. Data on stoneware,
which constituted a sizeable proportion of pottery production in the 19th c., make a valuable addition to the research on the history of the Ćmielów factory. 

Keywords:

Cmielow, stoneware, Kazimierz Cybulski, exhibition, National Museum in Krakow

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Kostuch, B. (2019). Ćmielów stoneware at industrial fairs in the 19th century. Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej, 67(2), 259–274. https://doi.org/10.23858/KHKM67.2019.2.006

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