The Zsolnay Manufactory represents a triumph of Hungarian applied arts, for during its heyday it produced elegant and innovative ceramics for an international clientele as well as architectural ceramics that embellished some of the finest public and private buildings in the Austro-Hungarian empire. This striking book recounts the story of the 150-year-old company and presents numerous examples of its work, showing how its changing fortunes reflect the cultural, economic, and political developments in Central and Eastern Europe.

The book provides an introduction and essays by European scholars that examine the manufactory’s history. They describe its founding, its years of international fame, its greatest achievements in both ceramics and architectural ceramics in the early twentieth century, its nationalization after the world wars and the Communist takeover, and its present workshop activities. The book provides new photographs of some two hundred objects and designs as well as a selection of fifty archival photographs from throughout the manufactory’s years of production. There are also detailed entries for all work shown, biographies of the manufactory’s premier artists and of Zsolnay family members, and a glossary of ceramics production techniques.

Éva Csenkey is curator of ceramics at the Museum of Applied Art, Budapest.