Vase

Decorative vase The vase was made in the majolica factory in Nieborów. The factory, called Art Faience and Tile Stoves Factory, was established in 1881 by Prince Michał Piotr Radziwiłł on the grounds of his estate. The director of the factory was Stanisław Thiele, an experienced ceramic artist who had previously worked in the faience factory in Nevers, France. The Nieborów factory produced various objects, both decorative and functional: vases, jugs, cache-pôt pots, jardinieres, decorative wall-hanging plates, toiletries, hanging lamps, wall tiles. Its speciality was stove tiles. This eclectic pottery fits into the historicizing trends in European pottery of the second half of the 19th century. The forms and decoration were patterned upon Italian and French majolica, as well as on Dutch faience. Frequently, old stylistic forms were combined with Polish-themed painted decoration. The wares were also decorated with mythological scenes. The period in which the factory flourished lasted until 1886; the collapse of production occurred around 1889. In the Łańcut Castle Museum's collection, there is a set of eleven decorative majolicas: vases, jardinieres, cache-pôt (see B. Trojnar, Majolika w zbiorach Muzeum-Zamku w Łańcucie. Katalog, Łańcut 1988). The majority of the majolicas come from 1882-1886; they are signed with the knotted monogram 'MPR' (Michał Piotr Radziwiłł) under a royal mitre and sometimes with the initials of the painter-decorator.The above vase has a round belly on a low stem and a round foot, growing into a tall neck with a curled lip. Handles in the shape of double, twisted snakes. Decoration in blue, brown, green, yellow, and black (outlines) on a white background. On the belly, there are representations of mythological characters. On one side, Jupiter as a bearded old man in a flowing robe drives a chariot drawn by a pair of eagles. He holds up a lightning bolt in his right hand. On the other side of the belly, there is a similar depiction of Saturn with a scythe, whose chariot is drawn by a pair of winged serpents. In the collection of the Łańcut museum, there is a similarly shaped vase depicting the same scenes (inventory no. S. 9732 MŁ). Barbara Trojnar