By the end of the nineteenth century, the Zsolnay pottery works in Pécs, Hungary had become one of the leading ceramic manufacturers in Europe. Founded in 1853 as a small stoneware and earthenware factory, the company expanded its range of products during this period to include artistic wares in a variety of styles, from ancient to modern. Miklós Zsolnay, grandson of the company’s founder, spearheaded this transformation, while his father, Vilmos Zsolnay, was instrumental in technological developments like the metallic luster glaze he called "eosin." The glaze, which appears on this vase, especially complemented the sinuous motifs of the then fashionable Art Nouveau style. It initially distinguished Zsolnay’s finest products from those of its competitors but was soon subject to imitation (a mark of its immediate popularity). LACMA has four other examples of Zsolnay pottery in the collection (two shown at the 1911 "International Exhibition of Industrial Art in Turin"), but this is the only one to feature the firm’s luminous eosin glaze.
Wendy Kaplan, Curator & Department Head of Decorative Arts and Design
