Teapot with little candle holder, black Vranov Wedgwood from the 1820’s

Snack set, Vranov Wedgwood around 1820

Teapot decorated with bold colours and gold, Vranov stoneware of the second third of the 19th century

Face side of a golden medal for the quality of the stoneware products awarded on the Vienna Business Exhibition, 1839

Reverse side of the golden medal for the quality of the stoneware products awarded on the Vienna Business Exhibition, 1839	Vase decorated with bold colours and gold, Vranov stoneware of the second third of the 19th century	Vase decorated with printed view of the chateau, Vranov stoneware, 1840’s	Coffee pot decorated with blueprint view of the chateau, Vranov stoneware, 1830’s
Plate decorated with brown printed Ferrara pattern, Vranov stoneware of the second third of the 19th century	Company plaque of the Vranov stoneware factory with the view of the chateau and the coat of arms of the Stadnický family	Plant pot made from the Vranov stoneware (around 1850) with view of the building and factory retail warehouse

Stoneware factory

The famous Vranov earthenware factory was founded in 1799 by Josef Weiss. In 1816, it was purchased by the owner of the Vranov estate Stanislav Mniszek, who recruited more workers, enlarged the range or products, improved the technology, and cut costs. In 1828, he obtained the exclusive right to produce new types of Wedgwood pottery, and around 1832 introduced the cheap, attractive and fashionable printed décor.

In the 1830s and 40s, the factory flourished, turned out an extensive range of products very popular on both the local and international markets, and including dining, toilet, writing and smoking sets, as well as flower pots, vases, coffee machines and heaters. The factory's nearly 80 employees who could use a steam-powered clay mill, four furnaces and 25 potter's wheels, annually "consumed" 2,400 fathoms of wood and 1,000,000 kilos of the material, of which "7,500 units of pottery of extraordinary beauty and quality were made".

At the end of the 1840s and through the 1850s, difficulties arose in both production and marketing due in particular to the competition of the nearby factory in Kravsko, and the ever better and cheaper porcelain production elsewhere. The crisis came to a head at the close of the 1870s. The production of cheaper, non-decorative earthenware of inferior artistic quality, and earthenware made exclusively for technical purposes did not help. In the same way, exports to Turkey and Italy, and innovative marketing methods better suited to the demands of the market, failed to provide a solution. The factory was closed down in 1882.

Assessing the factory's production as a whole, one admires the mastership with which the Vranov potters coped with the technological difficulties. In this respect, the original light-coloured Dürenbeck Wedgwood pottery, remarkable for the endurance and quality of the glazing and its extraordinary functionality, stands out. The earthenware with fine decorations using flower, landscape and geometrical motifs and patterns and the very demanding cut and lacework décor, also command respect. Thanks to this production, the factory ranked among the most important producers in the monarchy. The aesthetic standards of most of the surviving items, and especially the Classicising ones from the 1830s and early 1840s, are very high.

Although the Vranov earthenware was influenced, particularly at the beginning, by foreign examples, it gradually achieved, thanks to the local potters and painters, its own style and subsequently wielded an influence on the production of other factories.