Museum of History

from 5. 4. 2023 to 31. 12. 2024

The products of the Holíč Factory, founded in the first half of the 18th century by the husband of Maria Theresa, Francis Stephen of Lorraine, to promote industrial entrepreneurship in the country, remain attractive and highly sought after worldwide. In museums, they are considered valuable acquisitions and among the most important collection items, often displayed in permanent exhibitions. The factory's dinner services and mass-produced vessels, decorative tableware, everyday items, as well as unique pieces and small sculptures, represent the life and dining habits not only of the high nobility for whom they were originally intended, but also of bourgeois buyers.

The Holíč Ceramics exhibition, as curated by PhDr. Andrea Milanová, PhD., and PhDr. Daniel Hupko, PhD., presents a diverse range of shapes, decorations, and products, alongside examples from renowned international workshops that influenced its design. The exhibited items come not only from the collections of the Slovak National Museum – Historical Museum, which owns the largest museum collection of its kind in Slovakia, but also, thanks to collaboration with selected museums and private collectors who loaned items for the exhibition, it has been possible to assemble a significant collection. This collection, for the first time, showcases Holíč factory products in a scope that nearly covers the entire range of faience and stoneware produced in Holíč. The exhibition also presents, for the first time, the work of folk potters for whom Holíč production became an important source of inspiration.

The exhibition The Story of the Holíč Factory will be open to the public starting April 5, 2023, on the third floor of Bratislava Castle, daily except Tuesdays, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM (last entry at 5:00 PM).

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Museum of the City of Bratislava.