ORNO Artistic Handicraft Workers' Cooperative
- Jevelx
- Mar 3
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 22
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
The Warsaw metalworking cooperative ORNO, operating in the years 1949-2003, was established on the initiative of a small group of enthusiasts of goldsmithing art, trying to find their way in the difficult post-war reality. The founders, who were registered at the first meeting on January 5, 1949, were: Romuald Rochacki, Wanda Telakowska, Adam Jabłoński, Stanisław Miller, Stefania and Andrzej Milwicz, Andrzej Wiercieński, Wiktor Chrucki, Henryk Iwański and his cousin of the same name and surname. The artistic director in the initial period was Romuald Rochacki, an economist and amateur metalworker. The direction he set, the vision of an artist-craftsman, raising the rank of handicraft, resulted in the creation of a characteristic style of the cooperative, recognized today by art historians and collectors. Some of the founding members, who were in favor of a more artistic profile of the cooperative, resigned after a few initial months.
"Pairing the artist with the craftsman" - this slogan taken from the English Arts & Crafts movement guided Romuald Rochacki in his vision of the development of the cooperative.
The main branch of production was silver jewelry decorated with coral, amber or natural stones, created by hand using simple goldsmithing techniques. The shortage of tools or materials released huge reserves of innovation and creativity in the creators. For example, carpentry tools and even dentistry tools were used after minor modifications.
Orno products were characterized by: hand-made, massive, raw, simple forms, exposing the values of the material (silver), production limited to 100 pieces of a given design. When a design was popular with customers, production was continued, sometimes additional elements were added, e.g. to a bracelet; a necklace, clips, a ring, a brooch were designed.
Over the course of more than half a century of the cooperative's activity, fashion has changed, the tastes of recipients have changed, artistic directors have changed and design has also changed.
The 1950s were a time of simplified forms of jewellery with decoration in the form of incised, hammered, hammered and rolled sheet metal (so-called curls), jewellery with folk, folkloric and archaeological motifs made of rolled, formed silver wire. It was decorated with corals, agates or amber obtained from older products, which resulted from the lack of availability of suitable gemstones. Folk motifs were particularly promoted by the Office of Production Aesthetics Supervision and Cepelia.
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
In the 60s, however, attempts were made to give massive shapes (which was one of the characteristic features of "Ornowska" jewellery) more lightness, introducing movable, openwork, asymmetrical, textured elements. This was a time of great diversity, constructivist designs by Jerzy Szkrabko, Marta Obidzińska, or unique designs by Danuta and Szczęsny Kobielski in frames of twisted wire.
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
The method of melting silver sheet with a burner resulted in a series of sculptural jewellery in the 1970s, whose organic forms were largely a matter of chance.
(the new artistic director of the cooperative was the sculptor Adam Myjak).
The 1970s were also a time of great popularity for jewelry with synthetic stones from Skawina.
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
The 1980s, in turn, saw the domination of jewelry with geometric shapes made of smoothly polished sheet metal.
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
At the cooperative’s service points, it was also possible to order repairs, design or production of jewellery, based on an album of photos of finished products or your own idea.
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
In addition to jewellery, the cooperative also produced insignia for local government and academic authorities, office desk sets, haberdashery, and souvenir products.
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
The company mark changed slightly during the cooperative's operation, it was the letters OR and NO inscribed in a square. At the beginning of its operation, the products were also marked with an author's mark, which was a graphic symbol, not initials, as is sometimes incorrectly stated in descriptions on internet auctions, but this was abandoned in the 1960s. The third mark was the national mark from the assay office in Warsaw with the silver fineness mark.
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
Fot. Monika Gruszka, private archive
The political changes at the turn of the 80s and 90s and the import of cheaper mass jewellery caused a decline in interest in artistic, craft jewellery and the collapse of cooperatives. Probably no one expected that after a few decades it would be the object of search by collectors of Polish design from the PRL period.
Unfortunately, most of the cooperative's documentation was irretrievably lost. "It is worth recalling here the account of the late Michał Gradowski, who on May 21, 2014, at the session "Artistic craftsmanship over the centuries" organized by the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, in the ongoing discussion, mentioned how, while passing by the liquidated Orno offices, he came across a moment when technological cards of works, books of patterns, photographic documentation, drawing designs were being thrown out of the pattern room archives in a terribly thoughtless manner [...] There was so much material that to take it over - which Michał Gradowski was by no means denied - it turned out to be necessary to rent a delivery truck. [...] when Michał Gradowski appeared again at the cooperative's headquarters, there was no trace of the pile of unnecessary waste paper"[1]
Today, collectors search antique fairs, sales portals, and antique shops in search of Orno products. Thematic groups are emerging on social media, where users share knowledge, finds, exchange, buy, sell, and warn against counterfeit products.
Like everything that is in demand, Orno jewelry is counterfeited, especially since its prices have risen significantly in recent years. There are products assembled from several elements, or products by another artist with a false punch. You can find a contemporary Orno pattern repeated without any markings, with oxidation applied, intended to imitate the original product. The fact that even one pattern may differ in the details of its execution does not make it easier to confirm its authenticity. This is due, among other things, to the fact that they were entrusted to different employees, so each product had an individual trace of the person who made it. There were also, for example, minor modifications to the clasp if the pattern was made in different periods of time.
The restoration of the popularity of cooperative and artistic jewelry from the PRL period, which was considered unfashionable after the political transformation, was largely due to the researcher, art historian, author of many publications Irena Huml and the exhibition at the Museum in Legnica in 2011 “Jewelry Saved” - from the collection of prof. Irena Huml. The greatest increase in interest, on the other hand, occurred in 2019 with the presentation at the Museum of Warsaw of a temporary exhibition devoted to the Orno cooperative, prepared by curators Agnieszka Dąbrowska, Monika Siwińska, Anna Wiszniewska. The partner of the exhibition was the Museum in Gliwice, which has a large collection of Orno jewelry in its resources. The exhibition provided a cross-sectional look at the cooperative's activities. One could also see a huge number of products from the moment of its establishment to the end of its activity. In addition to magnificent bracelets, necklaces, rings and pins, the exhibition also featured packaging with the company logo, authentic goldsmith tools, sketches and designs, documents, photos, academic insignia and the Great Book of Orno, which is currently kept in the Goldsmith Art Collection of the National Museum in Warsaw.
Photos from the exhibition ORNO Cooperative. Jewelry Museum of Warsaw 2019
private archive Monika Gruszka
To this day, there is no larger monographic publication devoted solely to this cooperative; information can only be found on websites, thematic groups and publications devoted to other cooperatives or generally to Polish design from the PRL period. However, interest in Polish post-war design is growing, which gives hope for the future.
In Poznań, at the Yes Gallery, on 14.04.2023 -16.06.2023, there will be an exhibition “From Idea to Industry-Jewelry of the Polish People's Republic from the Collection of Magdalena Kwiatkiewicz”, curated by Dr. Michał Myśliński from the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Over 200 objects of goldsmith art created in the years 1945-1989 will be presented. This event will be a great opportunity to take a brief look at the history of Polish jewelry and haberdashery design.
[1]Michał Myśliński IS PAN ''Polish Jewelry Past Perfect. Exhibition Orno Cooperative. Jewelry” Museum of Warsaw 2019;
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Irena Huml "Ars Argenti";
Michał Myśliński IS PAN ''The Art of Small Forms”;
Michał Myśliński IS PAN '' Polish Jewelry Past Perfect. Exhibition Orno Cooperative. Jewelry” Museum of Warsaw 2019;
Michał Myśliński IS PAN "The Great Book of the Warsaw Artistic Industry Cooperative "ORNO" - a bookbinding work of amateur goldsmiths";
ORNO Cooperative. Jewelry - Museum of Warsaw, publication accompanying the 2019 exhibition;
Hand Made-Polish Silver Art 1945-1979 Art Gallery in Legnica
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