The Ćmielów Porcelain Works (Polish: Zakłady Porcelany „Ćmielów”; pronounced: [ˈt͡ɕmjɛluf]), in Ćmielów, Holy Cross Province, Poland, are the oldest[1][2] and among the largest[3]porcelain works in Poland, and the largest thin-walled-china works in Europe,[4] their products described as "likely the most recognizable Polish porcelain."[5] The Works trace their history to craft manufactories that were established in Ćmielów in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
History
The Ćmielów Porcelain Works trace their history to a craft manufactory that was established in the town of Ćmielów in 1790.[5] Another milestone was the 1804 creation of a larger manufactory by Count Jacek Małachowski.[5] Production of porcelain began in 1838 (previously, local ceramic production had been mostly of simpler varieties such as faience).[5] In 1901 the firm received a grand prize at the All-Russia Exhibition in St. Petersburg.[6] The manufactory changed owners several times, in 1921 becoming a S.A.-type corporation.[5] In 1924, the firm acquired a smaller works in nearby Chodzież.[5]
In 1946, the firm was nationalized in communist Poland. Also that year, Ćmielów Porcelain workers staged a strike protesting a three-month shortage of flour.[7]
Half a century later, in 1997, the firm was reprivatized and in the mid-2010s was split between two owners (Polskie Fabryki Porcelany „Ćmielów” i „Chodzież” SA; and Fabryki Porcelany AS).[5]
Designs
After 1840, Ćmielów products were often decorated with rural landscapes; scenes from history, mythology, or the Bible; and portraits of famous persons.[4]
In the 1950s and 1960s, the firm produced "new-look" decorative Ćmielów figurines.[4][8] New owners in post-communist Poland endeavored to renew their hand-made production and published a catalog.[9] In 2004, the owners resumed their collaboration with artists Lubomir Tomaszewski and Mieczysław Naruszewicz, who had been behind the success of the 1960s figurines.[10]
Ćmielów ceramics are exhibited in numerous Polish museums, the largest collection being at the National Museum in Kielce (Muzeum Narodowe w Kielcach).[6]
References
^Polish Foreign Trade. Foreign Trade Publicity and Pub. Enterprise Agpol. 1986. p. 32. products from Ćmielów, the oldest Polish porcelain factory with a history going back close on 200 years
^Kurtek, Katarzyna (2018-10-17). "Polska ceramika po 2000 roku" (in Polish and English). the biggest Polish porcelain factories as Ćmielów{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
