Olmütz Hausmalerkrug 1788 datiert

10 March 2023

European Ceramics

Expert Knowledge

Faience

Olomouc Hausmaler Faience Tankard dated 1788

Olmützer Hausmalerkrug 1788 datiert, mit Hochzeitspaar in bunten Muffelfarben, H. 23 cm

Characteristics of Olomouc Faience of the 18th century

Ruzena Hrbková, (see literature below) has rendered outstanding services to the study of Moravian faience and was engaged in the search for Olomouc faiences in almost all museums and private collections in the Czech Republic. As a result of this tremendous effort in 1963/64 she arranged a large exhibition of Olomouc and Sternberg faiences in the Museum of Local History in Olomouc and the Ethnographic Museum in Brno. The exhibition was documented by a catalogue and a colour film.
The unique concentration of these faiences prior to the exhibition enabled an in-depth study of every minute detail and a precise analyzation. The study permitted to identify all of the typical features,
that characterize Olomouc faience objects. So it is possible today to identify these faiences perfectly, even if they appear only rarely, but still occasionally, or are still mistakenly described as Wischau in catalogues. The stylistic analysis of the considerable number of products of Olomouc provenance and the comparison with the faiences from Wischau or from other South Moravian workshops showed that the difference in the style of the Olomouc faiences is very caracteristic as of form, glaze, decoration and colouring.

Colouful decoration depicting the loving couple with sheep

The production of Moravian faience was influenced by two factors of decisive influence, the creativity of
the Habans in the 16th and 17th centuries and the products of the Hollitsch / Holíč majolica production of the 18th century. Beginning with the second third 18th century onwards the faiences were decorated with a vivid palette enamel colours ((Muffelfarben) enhanced with an intense purple.

The heyday of the Olomouc faience production dates back to the last quarter of the 18th century.

This tankard was attributed to

JOHANN NEUMAYER (Neumayr, Neumahr)
he came from Pisa Tuscany to Olomouc and was granted citizenship in 1762

by RUZENA HRBKOVA

P. 11

https://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=kkf-002:1965:0::183#116

The Igo Levi Collection

The Nuremberg entrepreneur Igo Levi – born in Munich 1887- was a collector with great expertise and has built up of the largest collections of faience objects starting around 1920. The focus of Levi’s collection was on Southern German works of the 17th and 18th centuries. (e.g. Hanau, Ansbach, Nürnberg, Bayreuth, Crailsheim, Künersberg, Schrezheim and Fulda)

More details in this publication by

Anja Ebert
Die Sammlung Igo Levi
„Versteigert“ im Germanischen
Nationalmuseum?

https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/arthistoricum/reader/download/392/392-17-86781-1-10-20191007.pdf

Auction of the Igo Levi Collection 1962 at Weinmüller Munich

1956 Igo Levi was in contact with Ruzena Hrbková and they exchanged photos of this Olomouc Faience Tankard and were able to make sure that it is definitley an object of Olomouc provenance.

According to the illustration it was possible to identify the tankard as a typical Olomouc
faience, made by the renown Olomouc jug maker Johann Neumayer, one the most important Olomouc stein makers besides Franz Wittek and Joseph Cerny.

(See literature below “Die Entwicklung der mährischen Fayencen Hrbková, Ruzena” PDF)

Weinmüller – Sammlung Igo Levi – Luzern: Auktion 81 11./12. April 1962, Katalog 89

Museum Reference

Cylindrical tankard. On the front a ploughing farmer. Typical rim and handle decoration.
Inscription:
Michel Zangl werd ich genant, Halt den Flug in meiner in my hand. Franz Wittek,

Height 19 cm.
Museum of local history Olomouc.

Source:

Zeitschrift Gesellschaft der Keramikfreunde
GKf und KERAMOS
KERAMOS Nr. 115 / 1987 S. 37 – 46

RUZENA HRBKOVA
KRÜGELMACHER IN OLMÜTZ

Moravian Provincial Museum

Jan Neumayer (1737-1798, Olomouc) – Faience Jug dated 1786

Zora Wörgötter, Alena Kalinová “Quart” in “Discover Baroque Art”, Museum With No Frontiers, 2023. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;BAR;cz;Mus11_A;48;en

Source: [https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;BAR;cz;Mus11_A;48;en&cp]