Room I – The history of ceramics in Upper Silesia from the Early Stone Age to “Opole painted porcelain”.
The display starts by showing the tradition of Upper Silesian ceramics. The oldest vessels encountered in Upper Silesia were made as early as the Neolithic age. Accordingly, the exhibition gathers antiquities retrieved during archeological excavations conducted in the area of the Opole province (voivodship), which came into being in the period from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages.
The faience factories in Prószków, near Opole and in Tułowice, were the two most important 19th-century manufacturing centers. Later, Tułowice became the location for a porcelain factory, the activities of which are fully shown in the subsequent room. The room also showcases an interesting example of an original ceramic tradition, the so-called “Opole painted porcelain”, i.e. artifacts adorned by folk artists with colorful patterns, inspired by egg-painting decorations.
Room II - Tułowice by Reinhold Schlegelmilch: Antoni Biloński's collection.
The exhibition is a presentation of the collection of Antoni Biloński, donated to the Museum of Opole Silesia in 2004. It showcases the porcelain produced in Reinhold Schlegelmilch's factories in Suhl (Thuringia) and in Tułowice. The gist of the collection is porcelain tableware and besides that, there are also figurines and examples of unique items in the collection, such as a magnificent, hand-decorated vase from the interwar period. Amongst tableware, neo-style receptacles stand out, often with rich decorations, as well as design forms in the manner of the art deco style.
Room III – Designers active in Opole Silesia and those hailing from Opole, Silesia.
This exhibition aims to draw the visitors’ attention to some of the industrial designers associated with our region, whose names are often unknown to the general public. The first part concerns Zakłady Porcelitu Stolowego "Tułowice" (an ’enterprise producing table porcelite’, successors of the Schlegelmilch factory) and the artists associated with that enterprise: Lucyna and Kazimierz Kowalski. It was compiled from objects from the factory's former blueprint shop, now owned by the Tułowice Cultural Center. The part presenting the achievements of Eryka and Jan Drost, born in Opole, Silesia, includes a set of items purchased in September 2020 for the collections of the Museum of Opole, Silesia. That inventory subsumes individual objects, as well as sets designed by Jan Sylwester Drost and Eryka Trzewik-Drost. These include: receptacle designs and chamber sculpture designs prepared for the Porcelain Factory in Bogucice, receptacle designs and chamber sculpture designs prepared for the "Ząbkowice" Glassworks in Dąbrowa Górnicza, (Huta Szkła Gospodarczego „Ząbkowice”), decorative glass designs for the "Staszic" Glassworks and also some unique artworks.
The purchase of the collection for the holdings of the Museum of Opole Silesia is possible thanks to the following external funds:
- co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund, the program: the National Collection of Contemporary Art of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (Narodowa kolekcja sztuki współczesnej Ministra Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego)
- enterprise financed from the budget of the Opolskie Voivodeship.
