Decorative plate by Polikarps Čerņavskis

Latgalian pottery ( ltg, Latgolys pūdnīceiba, lv, Latgales podniecība) or Latgalian ceramics (''Latgolys keramika'', ''Latgales keramika''), also known as Silajāņi ceramics is the best-known subset of Latvian pottery. The region of Latgale historically has been the most prolific producer of wares.Pujāts, Jānis. Latgales keramika. Rēzekne:Latgales kultūras centra izdevniecība, 2002, pages 20-26 Latgalian ceramics rose to the popularity in the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

period, when art historian Jānis Pujāts wrote books about the best Latgalian ceramicists and organized several exhibitions to showcase their works.

Types of ware

Most of the types of wares of Latgalian ceramics were used in the local households for everyday use. Examples include ''vuoraunīks'' (a pot for cooking), ''madaunīks'' (a pot for

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

storage), ''sloinīks'' (a pot for storing

fruit preserves Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the met ...

), ''stuodiņs'' (a pot for storing

sour cream Sour cream (in North American English, Australian English and New Zealand English) or soured cream (British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, ...

), ''ļaks'' (a vessel for storage of oil), ''pīna pūds'' (a pot for storing cow's

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

), ''kazeļnīks'' (a pot for

goat milk Goat milk is the milk of domestic goats. Goats produce about 2% of the world's total annual milk supply. Some goats are bred specifically for milk. Goat milk naturally has small, well-emulsified fat globules, which means the cream will stay i ...

storage), ''puorūss'' (lit. "over-handle", a vessel for bringing food to the field), ''bļūda'' (bowl), ''kryuze'' (a jug or a mug, most often for

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

or milk). For decorative purposes, Latgalian ceramicists were making

candlestick A candlestick is a device used to hold a candle in place. Candlesticks have a cup or a spike ("pricket") or both to keep the candle in place. Candlesticks are less frequently called "candleholders". Before the proliferation of electricity, candl ...

s (''svečturi'') and human, animal, folk figure shaped ocarinas (''sviļpaunīki'').

Museum collections

Rainis Rainis was the pseudonym of Jānis Pliekšāns (September 11, 1865 – September 12, 1929), a Latvian poet, playwright, translator, and politician. Rainis' works include the classic plays ''Uguns un nakts'' (''Fire and Night'', 1905) and ''Ind ...

Museum in Jasmuiža are located the relocated workshop and kiln of Andrejs Paulāns from Šembeļi. In this museum, there is a renovated unique tile stove that was relocated from ceramicist Ādams Kāpostiņš house in Puša.

Latgale Culture and History Museum The Latgale Culture and History Museum ( Latvian: Latgales Kultūrvēstures Muzejs) in Rēzekne, Latvia, is a history museum with a large collection of items, including Latgalian ceramics. It receives about 31,000 visitors per year. History ...

has a collection of the Latgalian ceramicist works.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Latgalian ceramics
Virtual exhibition about Latgalian ceramics
@ Latgale Culture History Museum Latvian art Latvian culture Latgalian art Latgalian culture Ceramic art