New addition to the temporary exhibitions display:

GIFTS AND NEW ACQUISITIONS

Monkey riding a dog (Photo Koller Auktionen AG).

A selection of ceramics which have entered the Swiss National Museum's collection over the past two years is new to the temporary exhibition display cabinet. The selection which in terms of numbers, represents around 10% of the gifts and new acquisitions in this period, should provide an impression of the various collections in the field of ceramics:

Figures by Zurich's Kilchberg-Schooren Porcelain Factory 1765-1780
They complete the sets on display at the Guilde House “Zur Meisen”: The busts of Venus, Ceres and Amor which, on the one hand, span the bow and on the other, sharpen the arrow, are included in the figures created between 1775-1780. The geographer with the map of the Solomon Islands supplements the sciences series. The serving girl with the tray joins the serving lad with the wine mug. The beggar is one of the factory's best figures and we have been searching for the monkey sitting on the Great Dane between the spice baskets for a long time. The Great Dane alone can already be found in the Guilde House.

Ceramic Sculptures
Figural ceramics have always been a theme in Swiss ceramics production. Here you will see examples from French-speaking artists all born around 1920/30: "Daphne" by Pierrette Favarger, an allusion to the nymph pursued by Apollo who transformed herself into laurel, the pecking hen by Jean-Claude de Crousaz and, coated with sophisticated glazes, the creations of Philippe Lambercy.

The Heimberg Tradition
To this day, the pottery tradition has bloomed in Emmental. Artists such as Jakob Stucki and Ueli Schmutz refer to earlier examples which are subtly refined. Thus, in his contribution to the "Röstiplatte" theme (typical Swiss potato dish), the special themed contest for 1987 by the Swiss Ceramicists' Association, Ueli Schmutz linked the old version of the Rosti dish from Heimberg with a content-related allusion to the "Röstigraben", the imaginary cultural gap between French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland. A fictitious repaired fracture splits the image with its rosti recipe written in French and German. Using traditional techniques, Jakob Stucki achieves a poetic, humorous imagery.