Brooch created by craftsman who made ceramics for royals goes on show
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brooch made by a well-known Bohemian craftsman who created ceramics for the royal household has gone on show.
Karel Nekola, who based Wemyss Ware in 1882, had gifted a floral-patterned brooch to his spouse greater than 100 years in the past.
The brooch is now on mortgage at Kirkcaldy Galleries on the request of Mr Nekola’s granddaughter.
During his profession, Mr Nekola created a ceramic goblet for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee – which featured in a BBC documentary.
The brooch, which is on show till May, is one in every of 4 that Mr Nekola designed for his spouse and three daughters between 1910 and 1915.
Also on present is a plate signed by Mr Nekola, depicting Dysart harbour, Fife, in addition to paints and a brush thought to have belonged to the artist.
Mr Nekola was headhunted for his works within the Czech Republic in 1883 and shortly made his mark in Kirkcaldy with Fife Pottery, ultimately changing into the corporate’s chief designer.
He married Isabella Thomson in 1884 and the couple had six kids collectively.
When his well being started to deteriorate in 1910, he arrange store at residence so he might proceed his work. He died in 1915.
Fife Pottery was the most important ceramic manufacturing unit in Kirkcaldy throughout his tenure, having exported items worldwide.
By the Nineteen Thirties, the corporate ceased buying and selling because of cheaper options, abroad competitors and financial melancholy.
The rights to the Wemyss Ware model had been later purchased by a ceramics firm in Devon and later by producer Royal Doulton.
They had been ultimately purchased by Griselda Hill Pottery in Ceres, the place the model is produced in the present day.
Cultural charity OnFife, which runs Kirkcaldy Galleries, cares for greater than 1,000 objects related to native pottery manufacturing – in addition to images and archive materials.
Curators are working with volunteers from Fife Pottery Society to make sure that gadgets held at OnFife’s Collections Centre in Glenrothes could be extra readily appreciated by guests.
OnFife Collections curator Jane Freel stated: “We are delighted to make such a charming, personal item accessible to our visitors over the coming year.
“The brooch sits very well with other pieces in our collection that were decorated by this significant artist.”