Ceramics at the École d’arts appliqués (School of Applied Arts) in La Chaux-de-Fonds
Works by Anna Müller in CERAMICA CH
Anna Müller (1892-1968) was the daughter of Pastor Bernhard Müller (1860-1935) and his wife Anna Müller-Gerber (1863-1931) from Grosshöchstetten, Canton of Bern (obituary in Der BUND 5th July 1968). She trained as a porcelain paintress and ceramicist at the School of Ceramics in Bern, enrolling at the beginning of the winter semester 1911/1912 and graduating at the end of the winter semester 1913/1914 (Messerli 2017, 70-71 and student lists). During her studies, she met Frieda Lauterburg, Elisabeth Strasser, Adolf Schweizer and Hans-Rudolf Wittwer, who later worked as a pottery painter for the company DESA in Steffisburg, for Emil Loder in Lucerne and for the Ziegler Pottery Factory in Schaffhausen.
As early as January 1911, Anna Müller, together with Oswald Kohler (Schüpbach), Adolf Gerber-Kohler (also in Schüpbach at the time) and Johann Röthlisberger (Langnau), exhibited ceramics, which she had created during a pottery course run by Paul Wyss for the Tradesmen’s Association of Langnau (Der Bund 18th January 1911). Their work was displayed as part of the “Kunstindustrie-Ausstellung des Kantonalen Gewerbemuseums in Bern” (Arts Industry Exhibition of the Cantonal Museum of Applied Arts in Bern).
Exhibition photo 1914 National Exhibition in Zurich (Conradin 1914).
Review of the National Exhibition in the newspaper Der Bund 9th October 1914.
In 1914, Anna Müller exhibited her ceramics at the National Exhibition in Zurich alongside Adolf Gerber, Johannes Röthlisberger and Frieda Lauterburg. She probably worked at the Gerber workshop in Langnau at the time.
Expert report on Group 23 at the Swiss National Exhibition in 1914, pottery and glass (Kiefer 1914, 74, excerpt).
Tureen in the “Old Langnau” style created by Adolf Gerber, Langnau, signed “AM”, which we can assume refers to Anna Müller. Photo Andreas Heege; the tureen’s current whereabouts are unknown.
Set of storage jars signed “AM”, possibly made at Adolf Gerber’s workshop in Langnau.
The design for the storage jars was found among papers from the workshop in the estate of Adolf Gerber.
Works by Anna Müller predating 1916, in: Franziska Anner, Die kunstgewerbliche Arbeit der Frau in der Schweiz, Chur 1916, Pl. 41. The influence of Paul Wyss, the Arts and Crafts instructor from Bern, is unmistakable.
In 1916, Franziska Anner paid tribute to Anna Müller’s ceramic works in a book on women in the arts and crafts in Switzerland entitled “Die kunstgewerbliche Arbeit der Frau in der Schweiz” (Anner 1916; reviewed in the NZZ newspaper on 31st July 1917). Ink drawings on tracing paper of some of the ceramics illustrated in 1916 (e.g. the fruit bowl on pedestal base) were found in the estate of the Röthlisberger pottery in Langnau. Did Anna Müller work there for a while?
There is no further information about any ceramic works or exhibitions after 1916. When her mother died in 1931, the family’s place of residence was St. Stephan, Canton of Bern. When her father died in 1935, it was Burgdorf, Canton of Bern. This makes sense, bearing in mind that she became the director of a nursing home in Burgdorf in 1932 (Der BUND 19th December 1931).
1968 obituary.
From 1948 until 1957, she was the director of a nursing home in Laupen, Canton of Bern, and from 1957 until 1965, she worked in a bookshop in Interlaken, Canton of Bern, before returning to Grosshöchstetten, where she spent her final years (obituary in the BUND newspaper, 5th July 1968).
Translation Sandy Haemmerle
References:
Anner 1916
Franziska Anner, Die kunstgewerbliche Arbeit der Frau in der Schweiz, Chur 1916.
Conradin 1914
Christian Conradin, Der Bazar im Dörfli, in: Heimatschutz. Zeitschrift der Schweizer. Vereinigung für Heimatschutz 9, 1914, Heft 6, 89-98.
Kiefer 1914
Georges Kiefer, 23: Gruppe: keramische und Glaswaren. Schweizerische Landesausstellung in Bern 1914, Fachberichte Band VI.
Messerli 2017
Christoph Messerli, 100 Jahre Berner Keramik. Von der Tuner Majolika bis zum künstlerischen Werk von Margrit Linck-Daepp (1987-1983). Hochschulschrift (Datenträger CD-ROM), Bern 2017, bes. 70-71.
