Bäriswil pottery in CERAMICA CH
Andreas Heege, Andreas Kistler 2017
Bäriswil lies between Burgdorf and Bern on the border between the Emmental valley and the Bernese midlands. In 1764, the village had 190 inhabitants; by 1850 the number had risen to 462. Pottery production in Bäriswil was in the hands of various pottery dynasties. Archival research has allowed us to pinpoint the properties of some of these potters and their families. The Kräuchi potters are particularly worth mentioning. Three distinct families with that surname, which were not directly related, produced both the first known potter (attested to from 1758) and the very last one (in the 1870s). All the vessels that we now identify as Bäriswil pottery based on typological criteria are likely to have been produced by potters of that name. Jakob Kräuchi (1731–post 1791, pre 1798, cf. the family tree), the first potter was also a stove-fitter, though none of his stoves are known to have survived. Statistical analysis shows close ties between early Bäriswil pottery (c. 1758–1780) and the regional ceramic traditions from the first half of the 18th century. Vessels with blue and white decorations in underglaze brushwork as well as slip-trailed, chattered and combed decorations are particularly worth mentioning. All of the early and almost Baroque production of lead-glazed earthenware with underglaze brushed decoration on a coat of white slip (“early Bäriswil”) can probably be attributed to the first potter, Jakob Kräuchi.
We can assume that the years 1779 and 1780 were difficult from an economic point of view for the first Bäriswil potter, Jakob Kräuchi, as he had acted as guarantor for his brother who had lost all his money in property deals. On 20th October 1779, he sold his pottery business to the tailor and schoolmaster Ludwig Kräuchi, who was not related (1743–1814, cf. the family tree). In 1780/81, Jakob Kräuchi and his sons Jakob and Johannes moved to Biel-Mett, where they continued to work as potters. It is not known, however, what they produced there.
Because Ludwig Kräuchi, the new owner of the pottery business in Bäriswil, was not a potter, he was in no position to continue the production on his own, and his two sons, Jakob (1768-1831) and Ludwig (1770-1851), were only 10 and 12 years of age. It was not until 1785 that they began to train as potters with Joseph Riedlinger, a freeholder from the Württemberg region in Germany, who had come to Bäriswil from Heimberg-Steffisburg. However, because the dated Bäriswil-type vessels do not show any discontinuity in their stylistic development, we must ask ourselves if Jakob Kräuchi, the previous owner of the pottery, in fact continued to produce pottery and stove tiles in his old workshop, which was then perhaps inscribed with particularly elegant calligraphy by the schoolmaster Ludwig Kräuchi. Jakob’s son Johannes (1770-1814), in any case, returned to Bäriswil in 1798 and probably continued his production in Hub, municipality of Krauchthal, i.e. in Bäriswil.
When the workshop was taken over by Ludwig Kräuchi, a new phase of production began in Bäriswil, which has become known as “middle Bäriswil” and is characterised by decorative designs in a rural rococo style and is easily subdivided into a quick succession of development periods based mainly on numerous inscriptions and dates. Letters in Fraktur script in dark shades of manganese purple or almost black applied using a goose quill are one of the main characteristics of Bäriswil pottery. Obviously, the high standard of calligraphy was due to the first or second occupation of some members of the Kräuchi family: that of schoolmaster. Between about 1785 and 1800, Bäriswil production also included a small percentage of real faience with a lead-tin glaze and in-glaze painted decorations. Apparently, this was only used to make a few select vessel types (sugar bowls or boxes, teapots, small tureens and a money box). They were probably made around the same time as faience tiled stoves that have been dated to between c. 1780 and 1795 (Heege/Spycher/Kistler 2020). The fact that these wares were made in places like Bäriswil shows that faience production was not necessarily linked solely to proto-industrial manufactories but could also be found in more artisanal environments.
In 1804, schoolmaster and pottery painter Ludwig Kräuchi sold his workshop to his two sons; they, however, fell out in 1806 and were forced to file for bankruptcy in 1809 due to overborrowing. Meanwhile, production at Bäriswil continued seemingly uninterrupted until 1821. This final phase of production, classed as “late Bäriswil”, was characterised by an increasing “rigidity” throughout its decorative range. Only a few central motifs (mainly animals) were added during that time and the rocaille and flower designs remained the same. The year 1821 brought an end to the inscriptions on “classic”, white-slipped Bäriswil pottery. One of the reasons may have been the second bankruptcy of potter/schoolmaster Ludwig Kräuchi (1770-1851) in 1819/1821, prompted by a climate-induced economic downturn which followed the “Year Without a Summer” in 1816. Kräuchi’s debts amounted to 6353 Swiss francs. He was the last potter to produce the typical Bäriswil ware.
Based on remnants of glaze found on ceramic objects attributed to Bäriswil production, we can show that the “classic” Bäriswil pottery was only one branch of the business. Others included red slipware with slip-trailed decorations, green-glazed pottery, vessels with black manganese glaze, as well as yellow-glazed vessels with either splashed brown decoration or speckled decoration. These were fairly standard vessels that were typical of the period in the region of Bern and throughout the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Numerous other potters’ workshops in the wider region produced similar wares. This means that unless there are marks on the base or specific decorative motifs that clearly point to Bäriswil, it is not possible to distinguish between “Bäriswil everyday wares” and products made by other workshops in the Canton of Bern.
Where it has been possible to identify the social status of the persons named in the inscriptions by consulting archival records, we have found that the recipients of Bäriswil “luxury ware” all belonged to the region’s enterprising rural upper class. Of course, this also included millers. Other administrative positions they held, for example as court officials or local administrators, clearly show that the persons in question were literate. This is also reflected in the large number of ink stands that were produced. Thanks to their economic means, they would have served in the mounted dragoons, a small “special regiment” of the Bernese militia. This too is borne out by the painted motifs on Bäriswil plates.
While there are no historical records that would make it possible to reconstruct the distribution area of Bäriswil pottery, a small number of vessels allow us to pinpoint where they came from. More than 100 pieces bear the names of the recipients or of those who had commissioned the vessels. The surnames can be linked to the places they were known to have originated from around 1800, so that mapping the names paints a picture of where the potential buyers came from. Bäriswil pottery appears to have been sold throughout the Bernese midlands up to the River Aare, the Emmental valley and the Bernese Upper Aargau, or in other words an area that radiated approximately 30 km from Bäriswil. This would probably have been about two to three days’ walk for a pottery salesman (Distribution area of Bäriswil pottery).
Just under 380 examples of Bäriswil pottery survive today in various museums and private collections, with desk sets making up the largest group. The museums include the BHM, SNM, MAHN, RSB, MKB, HMB, MKW and SMT. Some pieces are also held in collections abroad, for example the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg or the Fitzwilliam-Museum in Cambridge.
Other family potteries in Bäriswil
It was not until after 1810 that members of the Witschi family began to produce Bäriswil pottery, but decided to cease production in the 1860s, opting instead to make earthenware pipes. Pipe production continued until c. 1950. Towards the very end of the history of Bäriswil ware, two members of the Kläy family also began to make pottery.
To date, the workshop of the Witschi family, also known as the “Röhrehütte” (pipe hut), is the only one to have been excavated in detail. The examinations uncovered an interesting range of biscuit-fired pieces and wasters, which were made after 1817 and probably before c. 1860. The types recovered are not at all consistent with the pottery types of the “classic Bäriswil” style, and clearly show how certain style elements were much more closely linked to the individual workshop rather than the shapes they were intended to emulate. Surprisingly, the potters from the Witschi family also attempted (unsuccessfully?) to produce faience wares whose colour schemes were inspired by products made by the more advanced manufactories at Matzendorf and Kilchberg-Schooren. Their main ranges, however, were manganese-glazed everyday wares and vessels with coats of white or red slip. The increasing importance of vegetable cultivation in the Canton of Bern is borne out by the fact that potters in the region began to produce pots for protecting plants and special vessels used to cover asparagus (Kaltenberger 2009, 719-724). The measures that were put in place from the mid-19th century onwards to intensify and increase agricultural yields, made the production of drainage and water supply pipes seem very attractive economically. In the 1860s, the potters from the Witschi family switched production accordingly as it had become almost impossible to earn a living from making ceramic vessels. This probably also explains why three potters from Bäriswil emigrated to North America with their families in 1854, 1855 and 1857.
Family tree of the Bäriswil potter Jakob Kräuchi (1731-post 1791 and pre 1798)
Family tree of the Bäriswil schoolmaster and potter Ludwig Kräuchi (1743-1814)
Distribution area of Bäriswil pottery
Translation Sandy Haemmerle
References
Heege/Kistler/Thut 2011
Andreas Heege/Andreas Kistler/Walter Thut, Keramik aus Bäriswil. Zur Geschichte einer bedeutenden Landhafnerei im Kanton Bern (Schriften des Bernischen Historischen Museums 10), Bern 2011.
Heege/Kistler 2017
Andreas Heege/Andreas Kistler, Poteries décorées de Suisse alémanique, 17e-19e siècles – Collections du Musée Ariana, Genève – Keramik der Deutschschweiz, 17.-19. Jahrhundert – Die Sammlung des Musée Ariana, Genf, Mailand 2017, 329-353.
Heege/Spycher/Kistler 2020
Andreas Heege/Alfred Spycher/Andreas Kistler, Die Hafner von Hängelen und das Rätsel der Bäriswiler Kachelöfen, in: Krauchthaler Jahrbuch, 2020, 173-256.
Kaltenberger 2009
Alice Kaltenberger, Keramik des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit in Oberösterreich (Nearchos 17 = Studien zur Kulturgeschichte von Oberösterreich, Folge 23), Innsbruck 2009.
