The Pottery Barn

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 18^th 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)

Office:             0049 (0)2855 303 1955      

Charmaine mobile:             0049 173 29 35 628      

Johann mobile:             0049 173 73 42 189