Work is progressing on recording the pottery in the collection of the Thun Castle Foundation. As of now, three quarters of the collection has been inventoried. At the moment, CERAMICA CH contains 2427 records of mainly Bernese pottery with a particular emphasis on Thun majolica. A further approximately 600 pieces of Thun majolica pieces will be recorded in 2025.

On 1^st August, Christian Hörack, who is now in charge of running the CERAMICA CH project, began to compile the inventory for the Regional Museum of Langenthal. Once this has been completed, the image database of CERAMICA CH will provide a comprehensive overview of Langenthal porcelain based on the collection amassed by the late Hans Rochat from Lucerne.

At the same time, work on the pottery collection at the Conrad Ferdinand Meyer House in Kilchberg-Schooren will be completed in 2024 and the records uploaded to CERAMICA CH. This part of the project is being overseen by Maximilian Scherrer in collaboration with Franziska Mathis and Elisabeth Lott.

The Rütli Oath – The Three Oath Takers [Eidgenossen], ceramic figure by Anton Sohn, Zizenhausen, around 1820/30.

CERAMICA CH wishes all Swiss pottery friends a Happy National Holiday!

The day marks yet another milestone for our project. Andreas Heege is stepping down from his position as project manager. His role will be taken over by Christian Hörack, formerly curator at the Swiss National Museum and president of Keramikfreunde der Schweiz. Andreas Heege will continue to oversee the English translations until 2027 and will complete certain museum inventories, including that of the Thun Castle Foundation.

Since April 2024, work in the Thun Castle Foundation’s collection has been in full swing again (around 600 data sets so far). Ceramics from the Wanzenried factory in Steffisburg were predominantly documented. Look forward to us publishing the data in December 2024.

Another big step ! Thanks to the commitment of the employees and volunteers of the Conrad Ferdinand Meyer House in Kilchberg-Schooren, over 250 new data sets on porcelain and faience from Kilchberg-Schooren were once again integrated into CERAMICA: All data sets.

Bravo and thank you!

CERAMICA CH is becoming trilingual (German, French, English)!

A true milestone.

The image database and all of its 16,716 records can now be searched using English filters. All the entries in the glossary are available in three languages. Over the next few years, the information about the manufacturers, potters, manufactories and museums will also be translated into English. This work should be completed by the end of 2026. Keep checking back; new entries and new museum inventories are being added on an ongoing basis. The remarkable pottery collections of the Schlossmuseum Thun (Thun Castle Foundation) and the Langenthal Museum should also be added by 2025 at the latest.

CERAMICA CH, Keramikfreunde der Schweiz and the authors proudly present:

Zürcher Kachelöfen – Das Hafnerhandwerk in der Stadt Zürich und seine Produkte

This monograph deals with the tiled stoves produced in the Zurich region in the 18^th century. Art historian Brigitte Meles and archaeologist Andreas Heege present 190 stoves that still survive today. They include ostentatious examples owned by influential Zurich families and guilds as well as standard types of stove of which thousands must have existed at the time. Those that were signed and dated are used to identify the producers and dates of the others. Introductory chapters deal with the stove-setters’ trade in Zurich and with the individual potters and stove-setters, their workshops and stove painters. The book discusses the different types of stove, the way they were decorated and the graphic templates used by the painters, as well as the overall stylistic development.

Vol 1: 287 pages, A4, four-colour printing, 235 figures, summaries in German, French and English
Vol 2: 492 pages, A4, four-colour printing, 1022 figures.

Price for Volumes 1 and 2:  98 CHF/Euro plus postage.

Orders for Switzerland only via info@keramikfreunde.ch

Orders for Germany and the rest of Europe only via: Likias Verlag, Pius-Häusler-Straße 14, D-86316 Friedberg, telephone: +49 821 58 94 72 68, telefax: +49 821 58 94 72 69, email: info@likias.de

ISBN 978-3-033-09728-5 (please note: limited print run)

Die Arbeiten an der Sammlung der Stiftung Schloss Thun wurden intensiv mit der Steffisburger Keramikfirma “DESA”  (1916-1952) fortgesetzt. Insgesamt umfasst die Sammlung 350 Keramiken dieses für die Deutschschweiz besonders wichtigen Keramikproduzenten des 20. Jahrhunderts. Die von Kaufleuten aus Biel geführte Firma ging aus der Töpferei von Karl Loder-Eyer hervor und produzierte mit leichten Ausweitungen der Produktionseinrichtungen bis zum Konkurs 1952 am selben Standort in Steffisburg. Die Firma war seit 1917 regelmässiger Aussteller auf der Mustermesse Basel und damit neben der Langenthaler Porzellanfabrik in der Schweiz “Trendsetter” für Keramikformen und -muster:  Ein tolles Ensemble mit Keramik der 1920er- bis 1940er-Jahre, wie es sonst kein schweizerisches Museum besitzt.

Die Firmengeschichte der DESA finden Sie hier. Haben Sie noch Archivalien, Fotos oder Musterkataloge der DESA, so melden Sie sich doch bitte. Die vollständige DESA-Sammlung wird voraussichtlich im April/Mai 2023 aufgeschaltet werden.