Studio Anna (Australia) ceramics

Studio Anna, makers of souvenir ware and art pottery was founded by Karel Jung-Virt, (1927-2000) who had trained as a sculptor and ceramist in Munich and Prague.

He arrived in Australia in 1951; in 1952 he was asked by Diana Pottery to make moulds for them. Quickly, he established his own pottery, in Neural Bay in 1952 and then in Marraickville in 1954. He won the Diplome D'Honneur and a gold medal at the 1955 Cannes International Exhibition of Modern Ceramics.

Studio Anna produced a huge variety of shapes & sizes of pottery pieces decorated with landscapes, landmarks, flora, fauna and aboriginal motifs.

In its peak years in the mid 1950's, Studio Anna employed over 30 staff and their ceramic ware was not only distributed widely in Australia, but was also being exported to such places as Tahiti, New Zealand, Fiji, the United Kingdom, Canada and more... the United States.

In 1957 a trade agreement was signed with Japan, which allowed the import of cheap mass produced ceramics. The competition put many of the local potteries who employed hand production techniques out of business, although Studio Anna was able to continue on a reduced scale.

Karel Jungvirt was able to adopt the production of Studio Anna to cater for the evolving tastes of the times. In the early 1960's he produced a range of cookware and in the late 1960's opened a series of stores in the Sydney area selling Australiana including Studio Anna. In the 1970's Studio Anna moved into production of lamp bases.

Studio Anna was sold in 1999, and Karel Jung-Virt moved back to Czechoslovakia where he died the following year. less...