History for 1945
The ceramic workshops were largely destroyed during the Second World War. However, already in 1946 an outstanding specialist Professor Tadeusz Szafran undertook the task of reactivation of the ceramic manufactures in Bolesławiec. He designed the first vases. One can encounter several of them with floral and geometrical designs in the collection of the Museum nowadays.
First designs made in Poland, Tadeusz Szafran, 1948
The former Paul und Sohn Factory became the seat of the Cooperative CPLiA. Thanks to the cooperation with the State University of Fine Arts in Wrocław it maintained high artistic standards. The school organized workshops for students in Bolesławiec. The production was generally supervised by professors Rudolf Krzywiec and Julia Kotarbińska.
Izabela Zdrzałka became the artistic manager in 1954. She introduced new forms as well as new decorative techniques such as enamels on clay glaze, graffito on engobes, paintings.
Platter, coloured glaze, Izabela Zdrzałka, 1960
In the years 1953-59 Alicja Szurmińska – Krępowa was the designer in the CPLiA Cooperative. She was a student of Professor Krzywiec. She introduced new forms of vases with goblet-shaped necks as well as mead and beer sets. Apart from paintings she also used colourful design glazes.
Another designer was Amanda Różańska starting from 1960. What is characteristic of the period of her management is, on the one hand, great emphasis on the production of various vessels and, on the other, a proliferation of forms, such as bottles of diverse shapes; vessels in the form of a square, triangle, irregular figures and combinations of several different vessels into one set.
Bronisław Wolanin took the post of the artistic director in 1964. He was a graduate of the State University of Fine Arts in Wrocław, a student of Professor Julia Kotarbińska. In his works of 1960s Wolanin used relief decoration, motifs from Silesian folk art and ribbing. In the 70s he realised a number of vases of classical proportions which were a combination of round, conical and cylindrical forms. He prepared a collection of forms covered with hand-made painting, the scales motif all over the vessel.
On the basis of Wolanin’s works from this period one can observe a decorative technique used for the first time in the pottery of Bolesławiec, namely craquele (purposeful bulging of the glaze).
Vase, hand-made decoration, motif of cobalt scales, Bronisław Wolanin, 70s
Another graduate of the State University of Fine Arts Wanda Matus undertook work in the Cooperative “Artistic Ceramics” in 1974. She was chiefly preoccupied with decoration of some of Wolanin’s works. She used interesting painting decorations -most of them floral motifs, sometimes in the spirit of secession.
Coffee set, the form by Karen-Park, decoration by Wanda Matus, 1975
Wolanin as the director of the Ceramic Plants “Bolesławiec” introduced a number of pottery with one colour glaze to production. After his return to “Artistic Ceramics” he prepared some designs based on the traditional Bolesławiec pottery decorated with stamps.
In the collection of the Museum there is also a number of forms designed by Janina Bany-Kozłowska, who is nowadays the director of the design centre in the Ceramic Plants “Bolesławiec”.
