Vase

A tiny decorative vase The vase was made in a maiolica manufactory in Nieborów. The factory called the 'Manufactory of Artistic Faience and Tile Stoves' was founded by Prince Michał Piotr Radziwiłł in 1881, on the premises of his residence. The factory director was Stanislaw Thiele, an experienced ceramic artist who had previously worked at the faience factory in Nevers, France. The manufactory in Nieborów produced a variety of decorative and utilitarian items: vases, jugs, cache-pôt pots, jardinieres, wall-hanging plates, toiletries, hanging lamps, wall tiles; it specialised in cooker tiles. The eclectic ceramics is in line with historicising trends in European ceramics of the second half of the 19th century. The forms and ornamentation were based on Italian and French maiolica and Dutch faience. The old-style forms were often combined with painting decorations on Polish themes. These were landscapes, views of famous localities, illustrations of Polish legends, images of kings and national heroes. The manufactory's prosperity period lasted until 1886, the collapse of production took place around 1889. In the collection of the Castle Museum in Łańcut, there is a set of eleven decorative maiolica, such as vases, jardiniers, cache-pôt (see B. Trojnar, Majolika w zbiorach Muzeum-Zamku w Łańcucie. Katalog Maiolica in the Collection of the Castle Museum in Łańcut. The Catalogue, Łańcut 1988). The above vase with a lid is shaped like an urn. It is decorated on both sides with medallions with genre scenes in the chinoiserie type. Against the background of a conventional landscape, the following are depicted: on the one hand, a Chinese man welcoming a Chinese woman who is holding a fan in one hand and a child in the other; on the other hand, a Chinese man holding a sash with Chinese inscription and two women. The vase walls are covered with an ornament of fine, stylised floral thread with integrated floral branches and the motif of a fantastic bird. The underside of the vase bears the painted hallmarks of the maker: the monogram MPR (Michał Piotr Radziwiłł), and the painter-decorator's monogram: JF combined with J. Francikowska. Barbara Trojnar