Hand-painted and shaped jug        

Exhibit of the Month 2 / 2017

Hand-painted and shaped jug - inv. no. H-208

dimensions: height 370 mm, base diameter 90 mm
material: porcelain
technique: painting on glaze, enamel colors, gilding
decoration: relief decorative ornament of the body, shaped
                 handle
motif: field flowers
signature: sword with a crown and initials CS (Carl Spitz) and B (Brux),
                    brown color, print,
                    embossed numbers 1582,
                    besides the mark, there is a black
                    inscription on the unglazed bottom: "anno 1897, Handmalerei
                    Aufglasur mit echdem Gold,
                    Modelliert K. Horvath, Gemalt D.Hogn "
                    (in the year 1897, hand-painted on glaze,
                    gilded with real gold,
                    modeled by K. Horvath, painted by D. Hogn)

The Regional Museum in Most manages a large sub-collection of Artistic-Craft Works, which includes products made of ceramics, porcelain, and glass, primarily from the 18th and 19th centuries. They were produced in significant European and domestic manufactories, as well as in a number of lesser-known companies, documenting the development of industry in our territory.
One of these companies was the porcelain and stoneware factory in Most. It was founded in 1896 by Carl Spitz under the trade name "CARL SPITZ, PORZELLAN UND STEINZEUGFABRIK BRUX". The production focused on utility, decorative, and gift items, which were successfully sold primarily in domestic and foreign markets. The Most porcelain factory marked its products mostly on the bottom. Under the glaze, it used stamps of various colors (black, brown, blue), and on the unglazed surface, it also used red paint. From the beginning, the mark was in the form of a sword with a crown and initials CSB (Carl Spitz, Brux). From 1909 to 1945, an oval mark ROYAL BRUXONIA AUSTRIA was also used. Carl Spitz was a significant member of the Jewish community in Most, and he owned the factory until 1938.
After the change in political conditions, it was taken over in 1939 by Dr. Adolf Fischer, who changed the trade name to "PORZELLAN U. STEINGUTFABRIK DR. ADOLF FISCHER u. CO, BRUX.".
In 1945, the factory was nationalized and gradually became part of the newly established national enterprises: "United Ceramic Works, Teplice-Šanov", "Duchcov Ceramic - Royal Dux". After the establishment of the sector management "Karlovy Vary Porcelain, n. p.", it was incorporated as a detached workplace of the Duchcov plant. It specialized in the production of teapots intended primarily for export to the USSR and the Middle East, to Iran and Iraq. It marked its products similarly to the Duchcov porcelain factory, differing only by the initial M (Most).
On June 30, 2005, porcelain production in Most was terminated.
From the more than one hundred-year history of the Most porcelain factory, little information has survived to this day, and in our collection, there are only a few pieces that document the skill of our ancestors.

The factory buildings are among the few historical buildings that have survived from the original city. They stand on Kostelní Street, formerly the Prague suburb, in the former industrial area close to the relocated Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.