August Herborth

August Herborth (born February 15, 1878 in Paderborn , † July 11, 1968 in Oberkirch ) was a Brazilian-German ceramist, draftsman and art analyst.

Life

August Herborth was born as the son of the later pottery manufacturer Karl August Hermann Herborth and Amalie Konradine Herborth, geb. Hollmann, born. After studying for two years at the arts and crafts school in Karlsruhe, he founded a ceramics department in 1904 at the "Kiln and Pottery Factory Carl Roth" in Oos near Baden-Baden. In 1906, in addition to heading the ceramics class at the Strasbourg School of Applied Arts, he also took on the ceramics department of the “First German Flower Pot Works Sufflenheim i. Els. ". After he left the arts and crafts school in France at his own request in 1920, he went to Brazil a year later. He followed a call to develop the local porcelain industry. In 1922 he founded the ceramic factory “Manufactura Nacional de Porcelana” near Rio de Janeiro, and from 1924 he expanded the “Companhia de Porcelana Brasileira” factory in Santa Luzia de Carangola in the state of Minas Gerais. Herborth received citizenship of this country for his services to the ceramic industry in Brazil. He returned to Strasbourg in 1927. As a widower, he moved to Oberkirch in 1955.

plant

Ceramics

From 1904 Herborth worked as an artistically accomplished designer of products made of clay (earthenware, stoneware) and porcelain for a large number of manufacturers: oven and pottery factory Carl Roth, Oos; Thomas and Ens, Marktredwitz; Thomas, Marktredwitz; Ens, Volkstedt / Thuringia; Ceramic-Technical Bureau H. Hoffmann, Strasbourg / Alsace; First German flower pot works Sufflenheim i. Els .; Springer porcelain and faience factory, Elbogen / Bohemia; Elchinger et Cie, Sufflenheim / Alsace. His program encompassed almost all areas of art ceramics: ornamental vessels, small sculptures, tiled stoves, fountains, chimneys, wall pictures, often provided with art glazes (luster, crystal, running glaze). In addition, in the rooms of the Strasbourg School of Applied Arts, he created his own unique pieces using a wide variety of techniques, and from around 1914 onwards, more and more sculptures. At the World Exhibition in Brussels in 1910 Herborth received a gold medal for the ceramics exhibited there.

In his porcelain factory "Manufactura Nacional de Porcelana", which he founded in Brazil near Rio de Janeiro in 1922, vases and small sculptures made of porcelain, stoneware and earthenware were made on a trial basis. The porcelain factory that Herborth expanded on behalf of Companhia de Porcelana Brasileira in Santa Luzia de Carangola (state of Minas Gerais) in 1924 also produced artistic specimens such as human and animal figures made of porcelain and stoneware. For the vases and wall plates, Herborth designed decors based on the art of Brazilian Guaraní Indians.

In 1927/28, under the influence of ornaments by Brazilian Guaraní Indians, designs (dishes, vases, animal sculptures, tiles) made of porcelain, stoneware, earthenware and faience were carried out by the Württemberg porcelain manufactory in Schorndorf, Carl Ens in Volkstedt / Thuringia, Lorenz Hutschenreuther in Selb, Aelteste Volkstedter Porzellanfabrik in Volkstedt, Tonindustrie Klingenberg Albertwerke in Klingenberg am Main, United workshops for mosaics Puhl & Wagner, Gottfried Heinersdorff in Berlin, stoneware factory Velten-Vordamm in Velten, Georg Schmider in Zell am Harmersbach, ceramic works Offstein and Worms in Worms and by Richard Blumenfeld in Velten.

Design of ornaments

Based on the art of Brazilian Guaraní Indians, an extensive collection of own ornament designs ("Estudos Guarany") was created in 1930/31. In 1934 Herborth's collection of ornaments from prehistoric ceramics from Alsace, as well as his own designs, was included in his manuscript “L'ornement dans la céramique préhistorique d'Alsace”. 1955–1967 he made his “study work of formal-colored design of asymmetrical order” with ornamental drawings on 1982 sheets.

Art analysis

In his extensive "Studienwerk formally-colored design of asymmetrical order" (1955–1967) Herborth analyzed abstract painting and drawing for their artistic vocabulary (color, line, ...).

Estate, museum holdings and exhibitions

The estate of August Herborth is partly in private hands. The Musée historique de Haguenau holds a collection of approx. 80 ceramics and the “study of formal-colored design of asymmetrical order” . The comprehensive exhibition August Herborth took place there from September 15, 2018 to February 24, 2019 . Céramiste et artiste sans frontières. Ceramicists and Artists Without Borders .

literature

August Herborth - céramiste et artiste sans frontières. August Herborth - ceramists and artists without borders. Exhibition catalog, Musée Historique de Haguenau, Haguenau 2018.
Arthur Mehlstäubler: August Herborth (1878–1968), a cross-border commuter. In: Keramos. 2009, issue 203/204, pp. 83-102.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Herborth, August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Brazilian-German ceramist, draftsman and art analyst
DATE OF BIRTH	February 15, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH	Paderborn
DATE OF DEATH	July 11, 1968
Place of death	Oberkirch