The history and description of PAW pottery
Unusual Beer Pitcher
The woman in the pitcher
One of the beer pitchers
Another beer pitcher
We were very pleased to hear recently from Jan Kopeček who lives in Pilsen, in the Czech Republic but who used to live in Vranovská Ves, and for a time attended the kindergarten started by Anna Wranitzky.
His mother was a friend of Anna Wranitzky’s daughters and when she was young she was very interested in arts and sculpture. She designed some unusual pots that were in the form of beer pitchers and were produced in large numbers in the PAW factory.
The inspiration for the design came from a very well known older lady in the village who served as a sort of carrier for all types of goods. She would have been known by almost everyone in many of the villages in the surrounding area.
When someone needed anything from another village she provided it and sold eggs, butter, apples etc, coming around the village, and to Jan’s house every week.
She always has a smile on her face, as you can see in the picture.
Jan, his sister in New Jersey USA, and his brother Leoš Kopeček who lives in Znojmo still have some pitchers and Leoš has provided some excellent pictures. These must be some of the most unusual and very rare examples of the pottery that was made in the Wranitzky factory.
You can see some unusual features of the PAW factory in these pitchers - they were probably made in a mould rather than being hand thrown, using the same technique that was common in the nearby Schiller factory.
They were then carefully painted by skilled artists in a variety of colours, so that every piece has its own characteristics and charm.