In 1918 Max Adolf Pfeiffer was made director; he brought new life into the factory and made a great improvement especially in plastic work, to which some of the younger artists, for instance E. P. Borner, Max Esser and Paul Scheurich have contributed. More important than Meissen and Berlin in modern ceramics has been Nymphenburg in Bavaria. In i888 Albert Bauml became director, and he soon attached some young artists to his establish ment who, so far as plastic work is concerned, have obtained astonishing results. Jozef Wackerle was especially prominent here. He made beautiful types of peasant pottery, and also hu morous groups from i8th century life. He fully mastered the possibilities of porcelain, and made some clever models in ma iolica. For some years Wackerle worked at Berlin. Theodor Khmer has done animal pieces which are in the first rank; of his disciples W. Neuhauser must be mentioned.
Among other important factories may be mentioned the Schwarz burger Werkstatten fiir Porzellankunst at Unterweissbach, later combined with those at Volkstedt, of which M. A. Pfeiffer was director. He knew how to escape the influence of Copenhagen and sought to produce original work. Jozef Wackerle first worked here and also Ernst Barlach, who with his figures of Russian peasants introduced an entirely new style. Moritz Pfeiffer's table decoration "Hunting scene" also deserves mention. Besides these, good plastic models have been made by Hugo Meisch and by Arthur Storch, while Hans Poelzig has succeeded in making porce lain subservient to modern interior decoration.
Andreas at Leipzig has attempted to make expressionist por celain pieces, but so far the fine qualities of porcelain have not been adapted to this method of expression. Maiolica offers a better field, and is better adapted to painting. The somewhat affectedly naive products of L. Koenig and G. Schrimpf have already been mentioned. They work at the Majolica Manufaktur at Karlsruhe, where other younger artists are also engaged. An other and smaller workshop is that of the women ceramists J. Biehler and M. Goossen at Nymphenburg. They have made good reliefs and also free pieces. Two other Munich workers deserve mention, Georg Kemper, who produces miniature pieces, sensi tive in form and colour, of patti and such like ; while Konigs bauer attempts a close resemblance to mediaeval forms with his double-surfaced sided jugs of which the outer one is open-worked. Something like this is also found in the maiolica work of Otto Milner who was inspired by Chinese examples, and in the pottery of Kurt Feuerriegel who is more inspired by 16th century models, though both of them, especially the former, produce work with a character of their own. The same can be said of Auguste Papen
dieck who works independently in the neighbourhood of Bremen, and who, in her monochrome, slightly glazed vases, aims at great simplicity and pure technique.
Finally some important progressive features can be seen in the development of stoneware. The domestic pottery of the firm of Villeroy and Boch, who have factories in various places, is frequently meritorious work. In particular their Dresden factory has obtained good results. J. Kiihne and Jean Beck design forms and decors. The Wachtersbacher Steingutfabrik at Schlierbach has had as art directors Chr. Neureuther and, after his death, Ed. Schweitzer. Good plastics have been made by Ernst Riegel.
During the 19th century there was no artistic ceramic work to speak of in Austria. The revival dates from the first years of the 2oth century. Following an exhibition of simple and brightly col oured ceramics at the Viennese Secession in 1902, Bertold Loftier began his attempts to create something new with ordinary red clay, and was joined soon after by Michael Powolny, the most im portant person in Austrian ceramics. They established a work shop, the Wiener Keramik, where Powolny's pieces of ordinary clay, fired and brightly glazed, were produced. In 19o7 there fol lowed the collaboration with the Wiener Werkstatte, where Josef Hoffmann sought and found new possibilities for the entire indus trial art. On the ceramic side he was helped by Kola Moser (d. 1918). The Werkbund exhibition of 1912 showed not only the inatt and other figures wreathed and surrounded by flowers, but also the ceramics in black and white under-glaze which has become A special Viennese type and has been imitated endlessly. In the same year the Wiener Keramik collaborated with the Gmundener Keramische Werkstatte, where, under the directorship of Franz and Emile Schleisz, peasant pottery developed into an artistic product. An important side of this industry was practised by Powolny, who made work for interior decoration and tiles for stoves at Gmunden. One of the most prolific designers is Otto Prutscher. Meanwhile, Powolny has a number of disciples at the Wiener Kunstgewerbeschule, who work at the Wiener Werkstatte or in small studios of their own. The Wiener Porzellan Manu faktur has come under the influence of the revival in earthenware. Multi-coloured decors by Franz Zulow cover its products. In gen eral, however, lively and dainty as the whole of Austrian ceramic production may be, it is always in danger of becoming affected.