Hermann Mutz

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Johann Hermann Mutz (born September 25, 1845 in Altona , † June 5, 1913 in Schnelsen ) was a German ceramist .

Live and act

Hermann Mutz came from a family that had lived in Altona since 1820. After an apprenticeship in his father's pottery workshop, he took over his business at Grünestrasse 19 in 1871. In addition to "vases, plates, jugs, bottles Delft, as well as copies of old Italian majolica" Mutz focused on the production of stoves and tiles in faience . According to the Altonar address book from 1873, the workshop traded under the name of “Ofen-, Kachel- und Thonwaaren-Fabrik”, which received a silver medal at the Hamburg Trade and Industry Exhibition in 1889.

In 1897 Mutz's son Richard joined his father's company. As Richard Mutz wanted to modernize the workshop and expand the art pottery branch, conflicts arose between father and son in the period that followed. According to the Altona address book, the company traded as an "oven and stove factory" in 1900, but exhibited art pottery that was awarded a silver medal at the World Exhibition in Paris . The Museum of Arts and Crafts and the Musée des Arts décoratifs from Paris bought vases designed by Hermann Mutz in 1899, which were provided with running glazes based on Japanese models. Museums from Copenhagen , Leipzig , Vienna and Stuttgart also bought ceramics; international art magazines often described the workshop, which made it one of the leading European manufacturers.

In 1902 the company took part in the International Decorative Arts Exhibition in Turin , where the workshop received an award. In the same year, the company was able to significantly improve the quality of its products by switching from faience technology to high-fire stoneware . From 1902 Ernst Barlach cooperated with the manufactory. By 1904, ten models of figural ceramics had been created.

In 1903 Richard Mutz left his father's company and founded his own workshop in Berlin . The reason for this was the intention to also produce high-fired glazed tiles from stoneware as well as building ceramics, which Hermann Mutz refused. The ceramic art innovations that father and son had succeeded in at the time were exclusively attributed to Hermann Mutz and the significant influence of his son was therefore not appreciated. Hermann Mutz's company took part in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 and in the Third German Applied Arts Exhibition in Dresden in 1906 . Participations in the following exhibitions are not known.

After the death of the Hamburg ceramist, his widow Maria and the master Ernst Leineweber initially successfully continued the business under the company name "Mutz Witwe". At the beginning of the 1920s, Maria Mutz took Paul Hadel into the company as a financier. The reason for this was the increasingly poor business situation. As there were no innovations, the company ceased operations in 1929.

Works that have survived

Vases, jugs, bowls and mass-produced commodities created by Hermann Mutz are part of numerous national and international collections. These include museums in Berlin , Leipzig, Darmstadt , Paris, Schleswig , Düsseldorf , Stuttgart, Vienna , Hamburg, Karlsruhe , London , Munich , Krefeld , Zurich , Oldenburg , Frankfurt am Main , Güstrow , Liberec , Lübeck , Cologne , Copenhagen , Schwerin . There are also numerous works that are privately owned.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Mutz, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mutz, Johann Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German ceramist
DATE OF BIRTH September 25, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Altona
DATE OF DEATH June 5, 1913
Place of death Schnelsen