Gray-blue sheen, engraved patterns, solid shapes: Westerwald stoneware was once a global export hit—beautiful, useful, or curious. The exhibition at sam—Stadtmuseum am Markt brought hidden objects from the depot to light and showed how clay becomes culture.

The so-called "Kannenbäckerland" (pottery region) in the Westerwald is one of the oldest production centers in Europe. Since the Middle Ages, craftsmen here have been shaping jugs, pots, figurines, and storage vessels – many of them for everyday use, some as artistically designed unique pieces. In the region around Wiesbaden, stoneware shaped the economy, customs, and the image of home.

Some of its qualities made Westerwald stoneware unique for a long time: high break resistance, dimensionally stable cooling – perfect conditions for mineral water bottles and lard pots, as they are still known today.

Historical stoneware met poetic imagery: in the exhibition, the pieces entered into dialogue with photographs by Eckart Bartnik, who depicted the region's clay pits as colorful, almost surreal landscapes.

A varied accompanying program invited visitors to rediscover the material, history, and creative power.

Admission to the special exhibition was six euros, or four euros with a discount.

A brochure accompanying the exhibition will be available for purchase at sam or by mail order starting in October 2025.