November 2001 – February 2002
Zsolnay is a renown manufacturer of Hungarian fine porcelain, and porcelain products, for example, art tiles. It is located in Pécs, in SW Hungary. Zsolnay pottery was made in Hungary after 1853. It was characterized by Persian, Art Nouveau, or Hungarian motifs. Early Zsolnay was not marked, but by 1878 the tower trademark was used. It shows five towers, for the five medieval churches in Pécs. The German name for the city of Pécs is Fünfkirchen, meaning “five churches.”
There are three main periods of Zsolnay porcelain production:
(FIRST) 1868 to 1897 – Folklorism, Historicism & Victorian Eclecticism;
(SECOND) 1897 to 1920-Art Nouveau (Secession in Central European terms) and Art Deco (Second Secession);
(THIRD) 1920 to the present-Modernism.
Like many of the pottery factories of the era, Zsolnay was comprised of a group of artists working in the same place, but each working in a personal style. Influenced by the iridescent glazes of Clement Massier, Zsolnay produced its own lustre glazes on art pieces.
Most commonly seen today are the newer Zsolnay figurines with a green-gold luster finish such as the one to the left, but there are many other motifs and techniques.
For more information on Zsolnay porcelain, visit the links below:
Zsolnay Links:
History of the factory and the procelain
Zsolnay Museum, Pécs – The Zsolnay Tile Museum [beautiful photos!]
The Zsolnay Store [more beautiful photos!]
Zsolnay USA [English or Hungarian versions, photos, historical information
Zsolnay Museum, Pécs
Zsolnay Hussár Gallery
Highlights of Pottery & Porcelain Exhibit (1997), Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Museum
World Ceramics – Who knows? [Interesting information, keep clicking forward]
Pottery Studio – Zsolnay [Click on “gallery” for the photos]
KaLevin [Historical information, photos]
Photo of vase, Minneapolis Institute of Art
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