More + Poland
Collection 2 > Germany
The “green series” from Thüringen
These piggy banks are from Thüringen and where produced in de 1920's. They were used as genuine piggy banks to collect coins in, but even more often to put them in a collection in the showcases of the middle and upper classes in those years. All of them are green glazed (not the pigs), that’s why this type of piggy banks is known as the ‘green series’. It is not quite sure who produced them, because of the lack of a hallmark. Experts have reason to believe that Conta und Böhme from Pößneck (Thüringen) made them.
Former GDR
These series are from the former GDR. I bought most of them in The Netherlands, once assuming they were typical Dutch. Discovering a similar piggy bank with a sticker of origin pointed out my misunderstanding. Not Dutch! Here you see the significance of maintaining the stickers, never rub them off! It's part of the provenance. Most of my GDR pig piggy banks are from VEB Gräfenroda Keramik, in those days the biggest manufacturer and supplier of garden gnooms in Europe.
Import in the former GDR
In this section examples of exchange between former communist "utopia's": In the communist countries the marginal production capacity was a big problem. In a way entrepreneurs were creative to buy the missing products or parts from college communist “utopias”. Not aware of this I always thought that some of the here shown piggy banks that were bought in the GDR were also produced there. Until I decided to ask a native speaker in my home town to translate the label on two of these piggy banks. And found out they were originated in Troyan, Bulgaria.
Johann Maresch and others
The piggybank marked JM is from Johann Maresch. The Siderolith- Majolica - Terracotta - Fabrik was established in Aussig an der Elbe in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire (now: Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic). Objects made of siderolith and especially by Johann Maresch are rare and expensive. Bunzlau, well known as earthenware brand, is a formal German city. Nowadays it is Polish and called Bolesławiec (Nieder-Sileziën). The Bunzlau earthenware is still produced there.
Poland: Boleslawiec (Bunzlau)
Most of the Polish pottery industry is located in Boleslawiec (Bunzlau). Two factories dominate the 40 other: State factory Zakłady Ceramiczne "Boleslawiec" and Ceramika Artystyczna a private company. They also make pig piggy banks, with plastic stoppers. Authentic piggy bank pigs (without cap) I have from 2 smaller pottery factories: WIZA, now called Ceramika Boleslawieka (WIZA) and DANA in 1975 founded by Janusz Jakubowski and stopped around 1992. The DANA brand still exists.
