In the beautiful scenery of the Kashubian forests and lakes, in Chmielno, the capital city of strawberries, there is the Museum of Pottery. In reality it is a working pottery establishment where traditional products have been manufactured by the skilful hands of the tenth generation of the family of potters.
A representative of the seventh generation, Franciszek Necel, came to Chmielno in the late 19th Century so that, after years of work in the pottery factories that had already existed there, he could open his own pottery workshop. Growing competition from industrial products and metal utensils made the traditional pottery face hard times. However, Franciszek Necel found his own way to the success – he started the production of pottery utensils decorated with a few characteristic motifs that, with time, became really famous. The catalogue of the Necel patterns is really simple – it contains only seven motives: a bunch of lilac, big and small tulips, a Kashubian star, fish scales, a Kashubian wreath and a lilly.
Chmielno, ceramika Neclów, fot. R. Baranowski
The Necel family through Chmielno’s artifacts enjoyed fame in all Poland. It even brought to the Kashubian factory one of the Presidents of the inter-War Republic – Stanisław Wojciechowski. On the 70th anniversary of the Presidential visit the Museum of Pottery was opened, where you could see traditional pottery artifacts from the previous 300 years, including those produced by the Necel Family. In the museum visitors can not only see the very old exhibits but also watch a potter shaping a vessel on a whirling wheel and even have a hands-on experience with this fascinating but initially extremely difficult art. In the museum shop they may buy local pottery artifacts adorned in a characteristic way.
Garncarstwona Kaszubach, fot. Rafał Baranowski
