How a tiled stove is produced

Models, moulds and templates

A model gives the customer an idea of the shape and decoration of the tiled stove they require. Sometimes, painted models offer insight into the various decoration options and form the basis for discussions between the customer and potter about the design. Technical aspects can also be taken into consideration and the back panel reveals the exact positioning and size of the openings for the wood supply and smoke outlet. It is not always possible to tell with certainty, however, whether a model reflects an intended tiled stove design. One of the exhibited models contains notches for an inkwell and sandbox on the top and was therefore used for writing utensils. In general, there is also much discussion about the fact that ‘stove models’ were often used in doll’s houses – either as a primary or secondary function.

The museum collection contains a book of templates from a potter’s workshop in Steckborn. It comprises copperplates, drawings and sketches, some of which show signs of having been reproduced: they are blackened on the back or punctured along the main contour lines. This is a collection covering at least two generations and has been used intensively, as indicated by the poor state of maintenance. Individual drawings date back to the stove painter Hans Heinrich Meyer, including one of two hunters featured on a blue-painted Steckborn stove.

Relief-decorated stoves are produced using moulds. This is a different form of reproduction which, like the graphical templates, explains the emergence of identical motifs and depictions in different areas: the moulding process is simple and potters and clients would spread the process from one place to the next. Moulds are exhibited from the Pfau and Erhart workshops in Winterthur. The mould for the lion’s foot bears the signature ‘D. P. 1682’, meaning it came from the workshop of David II Pfau (1644 – 1702), which also designed stoves for Zurich town hall.