Since moving
to The Netherlands, I’ve developed somewhat of an obsession. Well, I’m actually
obsessed by many things here…
Doors
(Maastricht)
Vintage
Signs
(Paris)
Travel
(Budapest)
Nature
(Swan.. looking for food in the pond at The High Tech Campus in Eindhoven)
Windmills
(Kinderdijk)
and a few
other things that are making life oh so enjoyable. But this new love is put
away in my kitchen cupboards… Polish Pottery.
I believe my
first encounter with Polish Pottery was at the International Women’s Club of
Eindhoven winter market. Vendors and members from all over came for the day to
sell their beautiful items. I purchased many things that day, but my favorite
was something from The Pottery Barn in Germany….
a Polish Pottery Salt Pig
I
actually didn’t even know what a salt pig was, but thought it was so cute. I
bought one for each of my sisters and for myself.
The other
day, my friend Carrie and I drove to Voerde-Mehrum, near Duisburg, not far from
Venlo and the Dutch border, situated on the lower Rhine River, to a charming place
called The Pottery Barn. Now don’t get confused. This place is not like the Pottery
Barn in the States, which to me is beautiful in its own right. The Pottery Barn
in Germany is actually in a barn, located on a farm. And inside the barn is an
amazing display of Polish Pottery to purchase.
The Pottery
Barn is run by Four Seasons Pottery & Gifts. The owners, Charmaine Barber
& Johann Horstkamp have been selling the pottery worldwide for the last 15
years. They offer pottery exclusively from the pottery studio Manufaktura and
are the German supplier, both wholesale and retail for the company in
Boleslawiec, located in Southwest Poland. They work very closely with the
company in that they attend various trade fairs for the owner so are able to
represent them and even do some of the designing in keeping with the history of
the pottery.
This area in Poland belonged
to Germany until 1945 and was named Bunzlau at the time. Potters began working
with the rich clay over 500 years ago and in the 18th century it
became popular to stamp and decorate the pottery. The oldest pot dates back to
1749. Patterns like “Eye of the Peacock’s Tail” and “Silesian Blue” became very
popular. The pottery was not only wonderful quality but beautiful as well.
Today there are over 3000 designs and are still hand stamped and painted, and
it is exported worldwide with 80% of it going to the States and 20% to the rest
of the world.
Normal patterns carry
the symbol of Manufaktura, a bottle or jug and the mark “hand painted in
Poland.” You will also find on the
bottom of each piece of Polish Pottery a
Unikat or Master Design, the signature of the artistand the mark “Unikat.” This means that this particular pattern is
only painted by the artist who signs the item.*
*All pieces now have
the artists name on the bottom, but only the Master or Signed pieces are signed
by the artist by hand and not with a stamp as are the others.
Now I’ve
been to other places that sell Polish Pottery, but the reason I’ve fallen in
love with The Pottery Barn is because of the charm, location, and the way every
piece is lovingly displayed. Having a nice lunch in the nearby village along
the Rhine was pretty spectacular too.
My three
daughters have all fallen in love with the pottery so I know I’ll be making
several little day trips to Germany to pick up a piece here or there.
As Carrie
from Sex and the City would say about shoes… I’ll say this about Polish
Pottery.. Me Likie!
If you would
like to visit The Pottery Barn:
Hofacker 15,
46562 VOERDE-MEHRUM
Opening times:
Fridays from 10am - 6pm (18.00)
Saturdays from 10am - 6pm (18.00)
Fridays from 10am - 6pm (18.00)
Saturdays from 10am - 6pm (18.00)
Office:
Charmaine mobile:
Johann mobile:
Me likie too :)
ReplyDeleteThat's why we likie each other :)
DeleteThanks for the compliments, glad you enjoyed your visit to our Pottery barn.
ReplyDeleteWe are currently updating our websites, perhaps you may like to take a look. (still in development)
http://www.bunzlau-scheune.de/anfahrt.htm
http://www.fourseasonspottery.de/schalen_schuesseln_eng.htm
http://www.polishpotterymanufaktura.co.uk/?page=Our_Location
we are also going on to twitter as well:
@PolishPotteryUK
perhaps tweet you soon...
Perfect! Thanks for the update! I'll be back soon.
DeleteJust to say thanks again, never though about setting up a blog, so we have just created one - so our first attempt!
ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing us to it :-)
http://polishpotteryuk.blogspot.co.uk/
Yea!! Going to it right now. :)Happy Blogging!
ReplyDeleteMy sister, Laurie, took me to the Potter Barn last August. She had been there before & was sure that I would like it & she was right!! I bought several pieces, a few for myself & others for gifts. I hope to visit again this summer! The service was fantastic, too!
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Linda
I'm glad you liked it! I do too and will be making the short trip very often this sprig/summer as we have a bunch of family and friends coming to visit.
Delete