Polish jewelry made of base metals 1945-1989
- gruszka-monika
- Feb 18
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Jewelry made of base metals is an important phenomenon in the design of Polish jewelry from 1945 to 1989, created out of the need of an ideologically marked economy recovering from the destruction of war.
As prof. Irena Huml wrote "Artists…. made copper and brass full partners of precious metals”[1]. Its popularity was mainly due to two reasons: price and availability. Despite the authorities' narrative, silver jewelry, which was supposed to be "democratic" jewelry for everyone, did not fully meet these intentions in terms of price.
Dr. Michał Myśliński in the publication "The Art of Small Forms" writes: "The conclusions drawn from the comparison of jewelry prices with the amount of earnings seem clear. Almost exclusively small silver items should be considered as easily available in financial terms - rings, brooches, chains, pins, etc. weighing no more than 3-4 grams, but the purchase of more impressive products required an expenditure equal to almost half of the salary." [2]
Availability was also not the best. In the country after the war devastation, the needs of metal production for reconstruction and the reviving industry were treated as a priority; in this situation, silver allocations for jewelry workshops were usually insufficient.
Creators, wanting to meet the demand and imposed standards, created from more easily available materials. Copper and zinc were not subject to such restrictive allocations. In some cases, base metals were a substitute, but many artists also made jewelry from these metals, deliberately using and emphasizing their characteristic features.
As in the case of Lena Kowalewicz-Wegner, who considered copper the most beautiful metal and treated the use of waste raw materials or metal semi-finished products as a challenge to the imagination. “The artist's vision of using unconventional materials is particularly interesting…”[...]There were bracelets in which, apart from the common sheet metal made of tin cans, lead fillings shone like pearls. Bracelets made of beer bottle caps…
The most characteristic and popular examples of jewelry of that time were made from copper sheets. All stages of the production process were performed manually, without the use of mechanical devices, which was important because many workshops were equipped only with the simplest tools.
Brooches, necklaces, bracelets from the so-called curls are most often products from the 1950s, while the 1960s were the fashion for products with more uniform, large forms.
It is also worth mentioning the large range of souvenir products, which made of base metals, encouraged purchases at a low price.
Base metal jewelry was included in the “Jubilera” Catalogue from 1957 or the Jewelry Product Sample from 1966.
Base metal products were created by, among others: Józef Fajngold, Henryk Grunwald, Zbigniew Chudzikiewicz, Ludmiła and Ryszard Rohn, Maria I Ryszard Kulm, Roman Modzelewski, Lena Kowalewicz-Wegner, Kazimierz Karpiński, Andrzej Jocz, Andrzej Ciechomski, Ewa Gralak-Jurczak, Iwona Mroziuk as well as the Rytosztuka, Imago Artis and Orno cooperatives and a large number of small private workshops, some of which were associated with Cepelia.
[1] Irena Huml "Polish applied art of the 20th century"
[2] Michał Myśliński IS PAN "The Art of Small Forms"
[3] “Helena Kowalewicz-Wegner and the Łódź school of jewelry design, 1959-1979” catalog accompanying the exhibition.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1.Michał Myśliński IS PAN "The Art of Small Forms"
2.Irena Huml "Polish applied art of the 20th century"
3.Krystyna Nowakowska "Józef Fajngold. Sculptor and goldsmith"
4.Barbara Dolczewska, Maria Teresa Michałowska -Barłog "Unique artistic jewelry of Maria and Ryszard Kulm"
4.Piotr Pietrzykowski” Metal haberdashery. Artistic enamelling and forging in sheet metal
5.“From idea to industry. Jewelry of the Polish People's Republic from the collection of Maria Magdalena Kwiatkiewicz” publication accompanying the exhibition
6.“Helena Kowalewicz-Wegner and the Łódź school of jewelry design, 1959-1979” catalog accompanying the exhibition
Comentários