Polish Faience from Ćmielów Factory in the Collections of the Diocesan Museum in Sandomierz

Ecclesiastical objects were rarely made from ceramics and are therefore not often found in church museums. The Diocesan Museum in Sandomierz is a notable exception, with an interesting and diverse collection of 21 transfer-printed faience vessels from the mid-19th century. This is a very valuable collection as it provides a picture of the production of faience in the mid-19th century in Ćmielów and, to some extent, in the whole of Poland. It contains all three basic types of printed underglaze decoration popular at the time, namely foreign motifs, Poland’s views and “wallpaper” ornament. The specimens with Poland’s views are particularly valuable. They are very rare in museum collections and practically non-existent on the antiquarian market. The author analyses these objects in detail, focusing primarily on Polish views, giving their graphic prototypes, the time of production and provenance. He also discusses the issues of under-glaze printing technology, with which all the objects in the collection are covered.