A Brief History of Polish Pottery

Polish Pottery dates back to the early 16th century in the German town of Bunzlau (known today as Boleslawiec) in the Southwest Region of current-day Poland. When it was too cold during winter for farmers to work outside, some began to make pottery. They took a lot of pride in making pottery, decorating the dishes using an innovative stamping technique with potatoes. The raw potatoes were shaped into small stamping instruments, and then applied to the pottery after dipping them first in colorful dyes. The original designs were inspired by the peacock feather and consisted of large dots in the wonderful colors of cobalt blue, sage green and ferrous reds and browns.

The pottery techniques seen today began to flourish in the 1800's. In 1893 the first pottery factory known as "Paul and Sohn" (i.e. Paul and Son) was established and produced pottery until 1945. Closed after World War II, the factory and the surrounding area was transferred from German to Polish territory as part of the realignment of National borders.

In 1950 "Ceramika Artystyczna" was founded using the old factory of "Paul and Sohn". "Ceramika Artystyczna" pottery is functional yet beautiful and has earned the company many prestigious awards, medals and world recognition for their high quality stoneware and intricate designs. Since 1950, more pottery factories have been established in Poland to include "Zaklady Ceramiczne Boleslawiec", also known for their distinguished artistic and original design masterpieces. Additional factories include "Zaklad Ceramiczny Stanislaw Wiza", "Fabryka Naczyn Kamionkowych Manufactura", and "Vena," just to mention a few.

Polish Pottery Manufacturing Process

Polish Stoneware is shaped from an opaque, white clay of the highest quality found in Poland. Each piece is fired twice in excess of 1250 degrees Celsius, making it hard like stone (thus the name "stoneware"). This intense firing process ensures highly durable pottery which contains moisture and heat for an extended period of time. The pottery is OVEN, MICROWAVE and DISHWASHER SAFE.

Trained artisans apply LEAD-FREE and CADMIUM-FREE paints and glazes using natural sea-sponges to stamp patterns and designs on the dinnerware. More intricate designs are painted with a paint brush on the stoneware which is then signed by the ceramic artist. These pieces are identified as UNIKAT (Unique) and Signature pieces ("ART" signed by the artists). Many of the artists have graduated from the Wroclaw Academy of Fine Arts in Poland. A final transparent and protective glaze is applied to the stoneware to make it very EASY to CLEAN.

Polish Pottery Care

Caring for Polish Pottery is surprisingly easy. When cooking with the pottery, allow the pottery to heat with the oven temperature and to cool slowly when cooking is complete. It is important to avoid rapid temperature changes. The pottery offered by POLISH POTTERY & MORE is OVEN, MICROWAVE AND DISHWASHER SAFE. When cleaning the pottery in the sink, just add a little bit of soap to warm water and let it soak for a few minutes. Then simply wash in the sink or the dishwasher.