Permanent Exhibition
Client:
Porzellanikon
State Museum for Porcelain, Selb
DIMENSION: 400 m2
COMPLETION: 2014
A porcelain maker’s life
The life and work of European porcelain makers
Porzellanikon – the State Porcelain Museum
“God gave us a brain; hops take it away”. 19th century Bavarian porcelain makers used this German proverb to their advantage, reckoning that the prospect of a few jugs of cool ale would help workers put up with the sweltering heat of the furnace.
And so these workers, protected only by wet linen sacks, waded into over 80 °C furnaces to fetch the freshly-fired porcelain. Their willingness to do so helped minimise the cooling down times that so hampered efficiency, and thus increased the productivity of the factories. Singed clothing and fingernails that stank of burnt flesh were accepted as a necessary evil.
These, by today’s standards, totally unacceptable working conditions are just one aspect of the working life of porcelain makers in the mid- 19th century that forms the subject of the multi-facetted Selb Porzellanikon (industrial porcelain exhibition) designed by Die Werft.
Working closely with the curators of the museum, we developed a new permanent exhibition on the historic site surrounding the furnaces of an old porcelain factory that was decommissioned in 1969 and accorded heritage status. Numerous artefacts, examples of daily life and interactive stations make the workaday world and everyday life of porcelain makers come alive for present-day visitors. The exhibition is deliberately designed from the alternating perspective of humble worker and factory owner – and reveals how a great bond developed between entrepreneur and workforce, despite their at times conflicting interests.
