An unprecedented selection of ceramics from Zsolnay, Holics, Hollóháza, Fischer, and common people comes together in the exhibition hall of the Museum of Ethnography to tell the story of Hungarian taste, identity, and everyday life through the nearly two hundred-year history of domestic hard-fired pottery production.
Everyday Luxury: From the Queen’s Table to the Peasant’s House is a large-scale exhibition organized by the Museum of Ethnography, the Museum of Applied Arts, and the Hungarian National Museum, and presents the diverse world of hard pottery, from the elegance of aristocratic tableware to the colorful plates decorating the walls of peasant houses. Through the approximately 600 artifacts on display, we not only encounter the many uses of the same material, but also learn about social mobility, changes in national self-image, and the emergence of modern design.
Stoneware, also known as earthenware, is a white, thin-walled, finely moldable material fired at 1100–1200 °C, which began its conquest of England in the first half of the 18th century. Within a few decades, it conquered Europe and then the Hungarian market.
During the 19th century, products made of stoneware by domestic workshops and factories became elegant accessories in bourgeois homes and decorations in peasant houses, and even found their way onto the tables of royalty.
The exhibition shows how stoneware became one of the most important symbols of Hungarian industrial art by the end of the 19th century, and how it contributed to the development of a national design language.
Factories—especially Zsolnay—sought a Hungarian style by freely varying folk motifs, historical and oriental ornamentation, while foreign factories (Altrohlau, Wilhelmsburg) appearing on the market of the Monarchy specifically manufactured for the Hungarian public. This diverse competition made the era both exciting and contradictory.
The openwork plates, plastic decorations, and decals created in workshops in the first decades of the 19th century originated in the world of bourgeois representation. The “Viennese rose” and its companions first appeared as hand-painted designs, then in simplified form with bright colors on the walls of peasant interiors, and later spread in large series using stencils – while the inscriptions (“Memorial,” first names, good wishes, religious texts) became personal messages by the end of the 19th century.
The plate is therefore not only a decoration, but also a communication surface: a carrier of identity, emotion, humor, and propaganda. Visitors can use an interactive digital application to create and send their own “plate messages” as a modern reinterpretation of the tradition.
The exhibition also explores the history of the 20th century, showing how stoneware became a staple of the modern household. After World War I and the Treaty of Trianon, the ceramic industry was redrawn, with the emphasis gradually shifting to usability and good value for money. The designer sets, stackable bowls, and “spritzdekor” technique of the Gránit factory in Kispest (southern Budapest) created practical, lovable objects that still evoke nostalgia today.
The designs and prototypes of the Házgyári kitchen program of the 1970s and 1980s, were already thinking in terms of a system: research, needs assessment, and design—a modern Hungarian story told through ceramics.
Although familiar to many, stoneware has never before been presented in such a comprehensive, scientifically grounded, yet accessible form. At the Museum of Ethnography’s exhibition, visitors can see artistic masterpieces, everyday practicalities, and objects of community identity all at once. Everyday Luxury discusses, debates, clarifies—and enchants.
The exhibition will be on view from December 3, 2025, to August 23, 2026.
Via press release, turizmus.com; Featured image: Incze László/Néprajzi Múzeum
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