Category: Crockery and decorative objects

In the Collection of Furniture and Household Objects at the Bukovac House, there are three vessels featuring a specific theme known as Blue Willow. According to legend, the daughter of a Chinese magnate fell in love with his secretary. When her father found out, he banished the secretary and built a massive fence around his property to prevent his daughter from escaping. During that time, she could only walk by the water and the willow trees. She was desolate until her lover sent her a secret letter with an escape plan. After a banquet, they fled, pursued by her father across a bridge. They managed to escape, but a few years later, her father found and killed the secretary. The daughter also died shortly thereafter, and the gods, taking pity on their tragic fate, transformed them into doves so they could always fly together.

The motif of the blue willow is easily recognisable as the vessels depict specific parts of the story: two doves, a bridge, a stream, a willow tree, and a fence.

This motif became popular on transferware pottery from the mid-19^th century. However, without a specific manufacturer’s mark, it is challenging to determine the exact production time of our vessels since over 500 manufacturers produced and used this motif.

The Bukovac House Collection contains three pieces: two blue and one black. Pottery produced in England has been marked with a seal since 1891, while earlier pieces often have no markings at all. Our specimens at the Bukovac House lack markings, thus they can most likely be dated to the second half of the 19^th century.

The platter is made of porcelain, oval in shape, with gently undulating edges. The base is covered with a dark brown decoration. In the middle of the platter, there is a figurative depiction of women and men in nature. It is framed by a wide meshed ribbon with flowers and four small elliptical fields in the corners with figural representations. On the back, there is an inscription PARK SCENERY.

The manufacturer is English, specifically a company from the city of Middlesbrough, dating back to around 1845. This can be precisely determined thanks to the impressed mark LONDON IS. The platter features the motif of Park Scenery, which was popular in the mid-19^th century and was produced by many renowned English manufacturers, the most famous being John Carr & Sons.

It is also made in the style of the so-called transferware pottery.

The rims of porcelain plates are adorned with dark brown bands featuring geometric (meander motif) and floral patterns. On the back, there is a seal of a lion underneath which there is an inscription: TRADE MARK and a band with the inscription POMPEI below which is the abbreviation TR & P. The manufacturer is English, from Burslem, and operated between 1873 and 1883.

This type of decoration was popular at the end of the 19^th century and was produced by many other manufacturers. It is, in fact, typical transferware pottery, as evidenced by the parts of cracking and clumsy rendition of the design.

Two crumb trays, one in the shape of a shell and the other oval. They are made using the papier-mâché lacquer technique with mother-of-pearl inlays and gold convoluted ornamentation. In the central fields, there are figurative depictions crafted with mother-of-pearl inlay.

While they can easily be mistaken for serving trays, these are containers specifically used for collecting crumbs. Often accompanying these containers, as part of a set, were brushes made using the same technique, although they are not preserved at the Bukovac House. Due to their shape and decoration, they were frequently used as household decorations.

The base of the candlestick is a perforated, stylised acanthus leaf. It holds an unadorned candle cup with a wide rim. On the side, there is a convoluted profiled handle. On the backside of the candlestick, there is an inscription DEP, and on the part holding the candle, there is an inscription: D. R. G. M. 118970 K. K OEST PATENT K. UNG. PATENT. Identical inscriptions are found on items KB-192/1-2.

D. R. G. M. 118970 (Deutches Reich Gebrauchsmuster/ German Reich Registered Design)
K. K. OEST. PATENT (Kaiserlich Königlich Österreichisches)
K. UNG. PATENT (Ungarisches)

The metal candlesticks with a base are adorned with stylised acanthus leaves. On it stands the figure of an angel holding a candle cup above its head with one hand. The candlesticks lack the crystal ornaments that used to hang above the angel, surrounding them.

On the backside of the candlestick, there is an inscription DEP, and on the part holding the candle, there is an inscription: D. R. G. M. 118970 K. K. OEST. PATENT K. UNG. PATENT. Identical inscriptions are found on item KB-195. Explanation of the inscriptions and abbreviations:

D. R. G. M. 118970 (Deutches Reich Gebrauchsmuster/ German Reich Registered Design)
K. K. OEST. PATENT (Kaiserlich Königlich Österreichisches)
K. UNG. PATENT (Ungarisches)

Porcelain teapot and sugar container. The teapot features a finely profiled handle, lid, and spout. On both vessels, against a white background of the belly, two figurative representations stand out. One scene depicts three men on a grassy surface, with outlines of mountains in the distance. One of them likely carries a bonsai. The other scene also shows three men: one seated among cushions, while the other two approach him. The clothing is intricately adorned, and the scenes are divided by two bands of red-gold ornamentation.

Along the neck and edge of the teapot’s lid, there is a narrow band of hatched red and green triangles and semicircles. The lid of the sugar container is missing, although it was likely identical to the teapot’s lid.

This is the so-called Japanese eggshell porcelain. There are no manufacturer’s marks on the items, but it is possible that is the same manufacturer of Satsuma that produced the vase KB-370, as it features parts crafted in enamel.

The vases are bulbous in shape and divided into four sections with scalloped edges. The entire surface is covered with colourful (blue, light blue, yellow, green, etc.) floral and convoluted motifs framed by golden bands. Their necks are low and intricately perforated, with visible crackles throughout the surface, yet the vases are well preserved.

The manufacturer is a Hungarian factory from Pécs called Zsolnay, founded in 1853 by Miklós Zsolnay (1800–1880). His son, Vilmos Zsolnay (1828–1900), joined him in 1863, when the factory gained worldwide fame. The factory produced artistic ceramics and gained particular renown for its production of the eosin technique. Eosin is a technique that gives objects a unique reduced sheen, and the process and technique remain a secret to this day. Our vases belong to the phase of production Folklorism – Historicism – Victorian Eclecticism (1868 – 1897). The vases’ backs feature the manufacturer’s seal – ZSOLNAY PECS, five churches, and the initials T. J. M., which stand for the names Tereza, Julia, and Miklos, the names of Vilmos’s children who continued the tradition of ceramics crafting. Initials ZSO are embossed on the back of the small vase, next to the mark, and ZSOLNAY PECS 1064 is embossed on the back of the large one.

The handmade and painted tea set is crafted in the Art Nouveau style. The white porcelain teapot features a lid, a profiled handle, and a spout. The surface of the teapot is adorned with stylised, gently twisted acanthus leaves along almost its entire height. The edges of the leaves are lined with a golden trim. In the middle of the teapot, there is a decoration depicting a branch with colourful flowers. The handle, lid, and spout are profiled and adorned with golden lines.

The pitcher has the same decoration as the teapot, that is, it also features a plastic decoration of stylised acanthus leaves and branches with colourful flowers. It has a slightly profiled handle and an opening articulated with an irregularly undulating line. The number 6246 is inscribed at the bottom.

Although there are no visible manufacturer’s marks on the tea set, either the teapot or the pitcher, they are of German production and by the renowned manufacturer Rosenthal. The company was established in 1879 in the town of Selb as a family business.

The pitcher is adorned with dark brown figurative images with a pastoral scene covering almost the entire surface. The foreground features four young women, goats, and a landscape with mills and castles. The spout and handle are decorated with floral motifs, and the spout is also decorated on the inside. A small part is chipped on the shallow foot.

At the Bukovac House, there are several examples of the so-called transferware pottery. Specifically, the artist would engrave a certain motif on a copper plate, which would then be transferred onto the object in the desired colour using wax paper, hence the term ‘transferware.’ Afterward, the object would be placed in a kiln; the engraving would remain beneath the glaze, making the image resistant to washing and scratching. This process was developed in England in the mid-18^th century and gained popularity in the 19^th century due to its faster and cheaper production compared to hand-painted pottery.

The pitcher exhibits somewhat awkwardly integrated parts of the design, where scenes overlap, indicating a less skilful execution of transferware pottery. Since it lacks any identifying marks, the pitcher is dated based on the depiction of park scenery, popular in England in the second half of the 19^th century.