Photoceramics - portrait of a woman

Information

Inventory no

MNS/MS/415 – A

Department

Art Department of the Pieniny Museum

Technique

Photoceramics, 38 cm x 33 cm

Material

Ceramics, wood

Copyright classification

Description

Photoceramics, i.e. a photo taken on a porcelain tile, shows a young woman in a sitting position, with her face turned towards the viewer. Blond hair in a Victorian hairstyle: a high bun, surrounded by a braid, short bangs above the forehead. Long gold earrings in her ears, and a dark green velvet with a gold pin around her neck. A woman wearing a light blue dress with a ruffles, a deep neckline with a lace and short sleeves finished with white lace.

On the wrist there is a thin gold bracelet with stones, and on the ring finger there is a gold ring. On the right hand, a gold bracelet in the form of a stylized rose. In her right hand, the woman holds a folded fan. The photograph is framed in a richly decorated wooden frame made in Krakow in Aleksander Krywulta's "Goldsmithing and Sculpture Factory" (the family company produced frames, altars, pulpits, feretrons, etc. in various styles)

The technique of photography on ceramics involves placing a photographic image on a ceramic substrate and then firing it at high temperature. The first process of this type was developed in 1855 by Pierre Michel Lafon de Camarsac. In Warsaw, the first photographs on ceramics were taken in 1860 by a traveling photographer, which could be read in the Kurier Warszawski from 1860: "with great skill he transfers and finishes all photographs of portraits and landscapes on porcelain, enamel and glass, and ivory. This way, today you can easily have portraits of people you like on your cups etc.

Warsaw photographers started producing them a little later: in 1864 by Michał Maurycy Trzebicki, and in 1865 by Karol Beyer's factory. The oldest known Polish examples of the use of this technique come from the latter. These are three photos from the collection of the Historical Museum of the Capital City of Warsaw. Warsaw: one group photograph, depicting the Beyer, Hauszyld and Krysiński families (1864) and two self-portraits by Beyer (1865-1867). Our exhibit is not much younger, because the date on it is 1876.

The signature on the back of the porcelain is very important to us. The photograph was colored by Władysław Szalay (1837-1880), son of Józef Szalay - the owner of the Spa in Szczawnica. Władysław was gifted with artistic talent and was educated at the School of Drawing and Painting in Krakow. Our Museum's collection includes several of his works, including: a unique color lithograph from 1872 showing several views of the then spa resort.

The mystery remains who is the mysterious, beautiful, young woman, could it be Alojza Steyskal, whom Władysław married when she was only 16 years old?