Ceramics

Ceramics is one of the most extensive and important areas of the MAKK collection.

From the early Middle Ages to the present day, the collection contains both individual sculptural pieces and mass-produced items: stoneware jugs, cups and bowls from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in particular bear witness to an increasingly refined and luxurious dining culture. The collection of vessels and tiles from the Orient as well as Italian majolica from the Renaissance, whose colorful painting preferably depicts stories from ancient mythology, is outstanding. In the 17th century, Dutch faience became increasingly important, with decorations influenced by East Asian porcelain as well as local flora and fauna.

In the 18th century, faience manufactories were established in many places in Europe, whose fragile products are still kept in the MAKK today. Among them are chocolate-brown teapots and cups with saucers, which invite you to enjoy the then new-fashioned drinks of tea and coffee, as well as lidded boxes and tureens in the shape of a bunch of asparagus or a melon, for example, which were not only intended to please the eye of the diner, but also to deceive.

The 19th century Empire impresses with clear forms borrowed from antiquity; the Biedermeier period immortalizes famous buildings on the walls of jugs and cups, while historicism celebrates the historical diversity of styles in exuberance.
Another focus is on art ceramics from Art Nouveau and the European post-war period, e.g. from Alexandre Bigot and Pierre Adrien Dalpayrat to Richard Bampi, Albrecht Hohlt and Horst Kerstan through to Antoni Cumella and Pablo Picasso.