Deep dish

Some of the most sought-after collector porcelain products come from the manufactory in Baranówka. The factory was started in 1804 by Michal Mezer, well known in Poland, together with Adam Walewski. Mezer, who had previously worked in the Korzec factory, established in 1783 on the initiative of Józef Klemens Czartoryski, left the factory, which he had successfully ran for nearly twenty years, in 1804. After leaving Korzec he moved to Baranówka in Volhynia, where rich deposits of clay suitable for making ceramics were also discovered. Mezer bought 320 square meters of land with small buildings: a few houses, an outbuilding, a kitchen, and a cellar, and with the help of experienced ceramists, with whom he cooperated with Czartoryski, he established a manufactory there.

In its early days, Mezer relied on a variety of faience and porcelain products, which were decorated with patterns copied from Korzec. Soon, however, the local artists created their own decorations. Not surprisingly, the hand-painted flowers, herbs and even daub decorations quickly gained popularity among the merchants, which allowed the products to be exported to the East. Breakfast sets for one person or two people decorated with idyllic motifs of field flowers, such as cornflowers with small green leaves and intense blue colour of petals, enjoyed great popularity.

Barbara Czajkowska