In
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
hausmaler () is a term for the artist, the style, and the pieces in hausmalerei, the process of buying pieces of pottery as plain "blanks", and then painting them in small workshops, or the homes of painters, before a final firing. In European pottery of the 17th to 19th centuries this was at certain times and places a significant part of production, and the decoration could be of very high quality. In England this was referred to as "outside decoration" and was also very important in the 18th and early 19th century, with some revival in the 20th.
Hausmalerei began with freelance
glass enamelers in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
but developed in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
on white
tin-glazed earthenware
Tin-glazed pottery is earthenware covered in lead glaze with added tin oxide which is white, shiny and opaque (see tin-glazing for the chemistry); usually this provides a background for brightly painted decoration. It has been important in Isla ...
in the 17th century, when glazed and fired but unpainted wares "in the white" were purchased on speculation by unsupervised freelance ateliers of
china painters, who decorated them in
overglaze enamel
Overglaze decoration, overglaze enamelling or on-glaze decoration is a method of decorating pottery, most often porcelain, where the coloured decoration is applied on top of the already fired and glazed surface, and then fixed in a second firing ...
colours and
gilding
Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...
, which were fixed by a further light firing in their own small kilns. A few such freelance decorators of
faience
Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...
operated in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
in the late 17th century, but ''hausmalerei'' developed in
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
into a notable feature of
tin-glazed earthenware
Tin-glazed pottery is earthenware covered in lead glaze with added tin oxide which is white, shiny and opaque (see tin-glazing for the chemistry); usually this provides a background for brightly painted decoration. It has been important in Isla ...
production during the early 18th century, before the workshops turned entirely to
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
.
''Hausmalerei'' reached an artistic pinnacle with paintings on
Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work and ...
and
Vienna porcelain
Vienna porcelain is the product of the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory (German: ''Kaiserlich privilegierte Porcellain Fabrique''), a porcelain manufacturer in Alsergrund in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1718 and continued until 1864.
The firm wa ...
in the second quarter of the 18th century; sometimes Meissen porcelains remained blank for decades before they were painted. Many painters and workshops have distinctive styles; a few were amateurs.
In France, the production of
Sèvres porcelain
Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for it ...
was tightly controlled, so that painting was under strict factory control. By contrast,
Limoges porcelain
Limoges porcelain is hard-paste porcelain produced by factories in and around the city of Limoges, France beginning in the late 18th century, but does not refer to a particular manufacturer. By about 1830, Limoges, which was close to the areas wh ...
has always maintained a strong tradition of ''atelier'' decoration, whether near Limoges or at Paris.
In England, among independent porcelain-painters of the mid-18th century,
William Duesbury
William Duesbury (1725–1786) was an English enameller, in the sense of a painter of porcelain, who became an important porcelain entrepreneur, founder of the Royal Crown Derby and owner of porcelain factories at Bow, Chelsea, Derby and Lo ...
went on to manufacture porcelain as a founder of the
Royal Crown Derby
The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England (disputed by Royal Worcester, who claim 1751 as their year of establishment). The company, particularly known ...
and owner of manufactories at
Bow,
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
,
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
and
Longton Hall. Chamberlain's Factory making
Worcester porcelain
Royal Worcester is a porcelain brand based in Worcester, England. It was established in 1751 and is believed to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, although this is disputed by Royal Crown De ...
was another started by an enamel painter, and the complicated career of the painter
William Billingsley included periods running a decorating shop. The largest concentration of artists was in Londo, and many wares were sent there to be decorated, and them passed to the showrooms that were also in London, long after porcelain ceased to be made in the capital.
In England, America and elsewhere,
china painting became a popular hobby or semi-professional pastime in the mid-19th century, normally for ladies, and many factories sold blanks. The 204-piece
Canadian Historical Dinner Service of 1897 represents a peak of this trend, with 16 female artists, most from middle-class backgrounds, taking part in decorating the service.
Traditions of ''hausmalerei'' were never wholly extinguished. The founder of
Heinrich & Co began as a ''hausmaler'', purchasing porcelain blanks until he set up his own kilns ''ca'' 1903. From 1930 the Czech ''hausmaler'' Josef Kuba (1896-1972) maintained an atelier in
Karlsbad, Czech Republic, and later in
Wiesau
Wiesau is a municipality in the district of Tirschenreuth in Bavaria, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ...
, Bavaria. supplied by various porcelain manufacturers in Bavaria.
After the disturbances of the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
many pre-revolutionary blanks of the
Imperial Porcelain Factory, Saint Petersburg
The Imperial Porcelain Factory (russian: Императорский Фарфоровый Завод, Imperatorskii Farforovyi Zavod), also known as the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory (abbreviated as IPM), is a producer of hand-painted ceramics i ...
were painted by artists as long as ten years later, in bold new
Constructivist styles; such pieces are now highly sought-after.
example in the British Museum
blank from 1912, painted 1922
Chinese Canton porcelain
Canton or Cantonese porcelain is the characteristic style of ceramic ware decorated in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong and ( prior to 1842) the sole legal port for export of Chinese goods to Europe. As such, it was one of the major forms of ...
of the 18th and 19th centuries used a similar system, but on a larger scale. The blanks were Jingdezhen porcelain
Jingdezhen porcelain () is Chinese ceramics, Chinese porcelain produced in or near Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province in southern China. Jingdezhen may have produced pottery as early as the sixth century CE, though it is named after the reign name ...
which was carried the considerable distance to Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
before being decorated.
References
{{Reflist
Czech art
German pottery
Porcelain