Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

Arts and crafts exhibitions organized for the sovereign to showcase Bohemian industry have a tradition reaching back to the 18th century. The first show of this kind took place in 1754 at Rudolf Chotek's castle in Veltrusy and was organized by officials of the Bohemian gubernium for Empress Maria Theresa. Similar exhibitions were held in London in 1756 and 1757, and around the same time in Scotland [Lněničková 1993, p. 172]. The subsequent exhibition of samples, the Produkten- und Fabrikenkabinet, also known as the "coronation" industrial exhibition of 1791, was organized by Burgrave Count Heinrich Franz von Rottenhan and Commercial Councillor Josef Anton Schreyer at Prague's Clementinum. This exhibition was often compared to the 1798 exhibition at the Champ de Mars in Paris [Noback 1873, p. 4]. However, in light of the economic development of the Czech lands in the 19th century, we consider the 1828 exhibition, which was supported by the Supreme Burgrave of the Czech lands Karel Chotek, to be the first public arts-and-crafts and industrial show. Its goal was to create an opportunity for domestic manufacturers and craftsmen to publicly display their products, raise awareness of them, and determine through comparison what their products lacked in order to "approach perfection" [Anonymous author 1828]. The authorities also aimed to assess the quality of domestic products and convince the public that many of the items were better and cheaper than those manufactured abroad.

Of the four organizers of this exhibition – Chotek, Count Josef Dietrichstein, and gubernial officials K. A. Neumann and his colleague Peter Josef Eichhoff – Dietrichstein, the chairman of the exhibition committee, and Eichhoff can be considered as the "curators." The former was the son of Josef Franz Dietrichstein, a liberal aristocrat, who sent the young Josef Dietrichstein to England for education It was reportedly this experience that inspired him to begin working toward the establishment of the Industrial Association at the turn of 1826. Thanks to Dietrichstein, arts and crafts exhibitions in Bohemia were conceived as part of the association's broader activities to encourage the industrial spirit. These activities included lectures, scholarships, a library, and a journal. Dietrichstein also informed the Minister of Finance in Vienna that "the Prague exhibition was on par with the industrial exhibitions in Berlin and Dresden" [Mendl 1934, pp. 26–28]. Eichhoff studied law and initially worked as a navigation inspector in the Netherlands. From 1818 onward, he worked on the Elbe navigation project. This work brought him to Dresden where he saw the industrial exhibition in 1816. In 1827, he proposed that similar annual shows take place in Bohemia.

According to the exhibition catalogue, published under the title List of Publicly Exhibited Bohemian Craft Products and Names of Producers (Verzeichniss der im Monate August 1828 im k. k. priv. Redoutengebäude in Prag öffentlich ausgestellten böhmischen Gewerbsprodukte und Namen der Produzenten), the exhibition contained 1,498 artifacts by 220 manufacturers. The committee did not evaluate works or award prizes, and the catalogue had no evaluative text. However, Dietrichstein assessed the exhibits in a report sent to Vienna on September 15, 1828, which was edited and reprinted in the October issue of Monatschrift der Gesellschaft des Vaterländischen Museums in Böhmen. The exhibition also received attention from the cultural journal Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur, Theater und Mode in January 1829. In his report, Dietrichstein divided the products into four groups according to the raw materials used in their manufacture: inorganic materials, organic animal and plant materials, and mixed materials. The exhibition featured manufacturers of technical iron, as well as decorative cast iron and related products (jewelry and home accessories), chemicals, fashion and utilitarian goods (made of wool, cotton, linen, straw, paper, leather and furs, glass, stoneware, artificial pearls, and precious metals and stones). In addition to evaluating the exhibited items, the review in Wiener Zeitschrift praised the Reduta exhibition space, which had a large and a small hall, as well as adjacent rooms, offering different options for installing the diverse objects [Anonymous author 1829, p. 46].

From Dietrichstein's "reflections on the products exhibited at this year's exhibition for public evaluation," [Dietrichstein 1828, p. 356] the following emerge clearly as the main representatives of "industrial thinking": the ironworks of Count Evžen Vrbna (Hořovice, Komárov), Josef Fürstenberg (Nový Jáchymov, Rokycany mining office); the glassworks of Count Arnošt Harrach (Nový Svět), Count Jiří Buquoy (Stříbrný vrch), and "the nestor of Czech glass producers" Josef Mayer (Adolfova huť) [Dietrichstein 1828, p. 349]; the porcelain factories of Lippert and Haas (Slavkov), Fischer and Reichenbach (Březová), the Heidinger brothers (Loket); the textile mills of Franz Leitenberger (Kosmonosy), Ignaz Leitenberger (Liberec), the Erxleben brothers (Lanškroun); and firearms manufacturers Josef Rutte (Česká Lípa) and Sellier & Bellot (Prague). Dietrichstein also mentioned two female artists in his report: Miss Švihová (Swiha) and Mrs. Anna Hantschel, although the catalogue lists a few more female exhibitors. Some of the exhibits have survived to this day, such as cast-iron products from Vrbna's ironworks: a vase with the head of Medusa (cat. no. 414) and Medallion of Marcus Curtius (cat. no. 454) [Laboutková 2017, pp. 45, 110]. Other preserved artifacts include Egermann's first lithyalin samples – two "Turkish pipe" heads with silver and gold fittings (cat. no. 1435) [Busson 1991, pp. 180–183].

In addition to the aforementioned exhibitors, Dietrichtein’s evaluation report mentions numerous lesser-known or forgotten names from all parts of Bohemia and one from Saxony: G. E. Abele (Nové Hůrky), Marco Berra (Prague), Ignaz Brem (Prague), Dietrichstein mining office (Ransko), Franz Čižek (Chrudim), Jakob Duschek (Prague), Joseph Gartner (Prague), Franz Günter (Loket region), G. Haase and sons (Prague), Anton Heillingötter (Karlovy Vary), Joseph Joachim (Karlín, now Prague), E. F. Kaden (Horní Jiřetín), Köchlin & Singer (Mladá Boleslav), Anton Kellner (Prague), Count Josef J. M. Kinský's mirror factories (Sloup in Bohemia), Kühne und Tetzner (Červený Hrádek near Jirkov), Ludwig Lang (Rozkoš), J. Lebisch (Prague), Jakob Levit (Plzeň), Joseph Lokay (Prague), the Löwy brothers (Prague), Michael Mang (Prague), Ignaz Martin (Zwickau, Saxony), I. Menschel (Prague), Ignaz Mieke (Prague), Joseph Neidhard (Slavkov), Sigmund Neuhauser (Liberec), Anton Neumann (Jiříkov), Franz Nowak (Prague), Ignaz Palme (Prácheň, now Kamenický Šenov), J. W. Prochaska (Chrudim), Wenzel Prochaska (Prague), Franz Rabenstein (Prague), Wilhelm Sigmund (Liberec), Franz Scheib (Prague), P. A. Schlechta (Lomnice nad Popelkou), Franz Schmiedinger (Slavkov), Schönborn factory (Skalka), Schönfeld paper mills (Karlín, now Prague), Franz Sorger (Sv. Kateřina), Ignaz Stelzig (Prague), mines and ironworks of Count Kaspar Sternberg (Břasko), Swoboda & Comp. (Prague), Anton Riechter (Zbraslav), Ignaz von Rößler (Nirdorf), Franz Spitra (Prague), Count Vrtba's porcelain factory (Tejnice), Franz Wagner (Prague), Jakob Wach (Stod), Jakob Weimes (Prague), Wiener and sons (Prague), Windischgrätz mining office (Tachov), Mrs. Wünsche (Doksy near Česká Lípa).

The first art and industrial exhibition of the 19th century signaled the growing competitiveness of domestic arts and crafts production. Due to the absence of a specialized sculpture class at the Academy in Prague, exhibitions like this one played an irreplaceable role in publicizing sculpture (Ignaz Platzer, cat. no. 1355) and related academic disciplines, such as glass engraving (Bimann, cat. nos. 1126–1127). The inclusion of Antonín Langweil's architectural model of Prague was motivated by interest in historical topography rather than design and architecture.

Taťána Petrasová

Works Cited

Anonymous author 1828: Anonymous author, Prager Zeitung IV, 1828, č. 96, 20. 6., [s. 1]. Oesterreichische Staaten. Prag den 16. Juni.

Anonymous author 1829: Anonymous author, Correspondenz-Nachrichten, Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur, Theater und Mode XIV, 1829, no. 6, 13. 1., pp. 46–48

Busson 1991: Arnold Busson, Biedermeier-Steingläser (1817–1842). Glas aus dem National-Fabrikprodukten-Kabinett, Bd. 1, Wien 1991

Dietrichstein 1828: [Joseph Dietrichstein], Böhmische Kunst- und Gewerbs-Ausstellung im Jahre 1828, Monatschrift der Gesellschaft des Vaterländischen Museums in Böhmen II, 1828, October, pp. 340–356

Laboutková 2017: Irena Laboutková, Umělecká litině ve sbírkách Národního technického muzea, Praha 2017

Lněničková 1993: Jitka Lněničková, Pražské průmyslové výstavy v letech 1828–1836, Historický obzor 1993, no. 7–8, pp. 172–178

Mendl 1934: Bedřich Mendl, Český průmysl před sto lety a počátky průmyslové jednoty. Zvláštní otisk ze sborníku "100 let Jednoty k povzbuzení průmyslu v Čechách", Praha 1934

Noback 1873: Victor Noback, Ueber die erste Gewerbe-Ausstellung Anno 1791, Prag 1873

Further Reading

Johann Slokar, Geschichte der österreichischen Industrie und ihrer Förderung unter Kaiser Franz I. Wien 1914

Verzeichniß der im Monate August 1828 im k.k. Priv. Redoutengebäude in Prag öffentlich ausgestellten böhmischen Gewerbsprodukte, und Namen der Produzenten. Prag [1828]

Archival Sources

National Archives in Prague, fonds České gubernium [Czech Gubernium] CG com 1826–35/1–102 and PG 1831–35, 35-5a