Art Nouveau Organism Bowl by Zsolnay

Established in 1853 by Miklós Zsolnay, Zsolnay began as a small business producing basic stoneware and earthenware. Ten years later Miklós’ son, Vilmos, joined the company and led it...

Model #13 Eduard Stellmacher and Co, Porzellanfabrik und Kunstkeramische Industriewerke Driven to establish a new company that produced luxury porcelain and ceramic items based on his own aesthetic aspirations, Stellmacher left Amphora when the workshop was at its most prosperous, in 1904. Together with entrepreneur Karl Frank, who provided the financial backing, he founded Ed. Stellmacher & Co. in Turn-Teplitz in 1905. From the outset, Stellmacher worked hard to achieve a major position among other high-end ceramic art producers. He believed the success of the company would depend on his products of “appropriate methods and unerring quality, perfect from both the technical and artistic sides”. Stellmacher based his first collection on artistically progressive products, pieces he believed would be in high demand. The greater part of the designs were either large vases complemented with sculptures of fantastic dragons or natural animals. With this series, Stellmacher continued the themes he had created for Amphora from 1899-1902, however, his naturalistic renderings of animals was even more elaborately precise. He developed a special ceramic material called refined earthenware, which minimized the shrinkage that was common during firing and allowed for greater preservation of details in the original models. Unfortunately, by 1905, contrary to Stellmacher’s plans, there was little to no demand for objects of this type. Very few pieces exist today as very few were originally produced. Even after redirecting the company to produce commercial goods Stellmacher still could not ward off the company’s demise. By 1910 the Stellmacher & Co. fell into bankruptcy and was liquidated. Art Nouveau Dragon...