Intended to fulfill a triple function, that of representation, place, political decision-making and cultural center, Peleș Castle, the royal summer residence, remains one of the most important museums in Romania due to the variety and exceptional value of the collections that make it up . Along with the famous painting collection that included over 200 paintings, King Carol I laid the foundations of a remarkable collection of decorative art, gradually built up over half a century of reign, through important purchases of furniture, weapons, tapestries and carpets , pieces of precious metal, glassware and ceramics, creations of the most famous workshops and manufactures of the era.
Within this vast artistic project, the ceramics collection (stoneware, earthenware, porcelain) of the Peleș Castle occupies a well-defined place, both in terms of number (the collection consists of over 5000 pieces) and value (the ceramic pieces honor the authors and fashionable European and Oriental ceramic centers in the 19th and early 19th centuries, as well as older workshops).
Passionate about beauty, from which she made a true creed, Queen Maria (1914–1927) continues the tradition of collecting inaugurated by King Charles I and acquires Art Nouveau ceramic pieces, which she distributes with great aesthetic sense in the unusual setting of Pelișor Castle, his private residence.
In the 70s, in full communist regime, the Peleș Museum initiated a real program of acquisition of art pieces from private individuals or from antique shops, adding a significant added value to the already assembled collection.
Pursued by the idea of the need to compose a space worthy of representing the young Monarchy, King Carol I managed to create in Sinaia, as in the capital, one of the most cohesive collections of decorative art, unprecedented in our cultural history. Purchased either from abroad, directly from workshops or during visits to the Universal Exhibitions in Paris, London or Vienna, or from private collections belonging to the local and foreign aristocracy or from specialized distribution companies, the ceramic pieces from the Peleș Castle collection celebrate the good taste, the variety and the craftsmanship of the artists of yesteryear.
Although Charles I preferred imitation European faience for his summer residence, Oriental pottery is a valuable segment of the collection. Acquired gradually, since the first years after his arrival in Romania, the oriental pieces happily complete the eclectic atmosphere of the Castle. Along with Chinese dishes from the 18th - 19th centuries, from the "green family", "white-blue" and "brown de Chine", masterfully decorated with narrative scenes of great intensity, there are some exquisite celadon dishes from the 18th century - lea. Japanese ceramics from the famous Imari-Arita and Satzuma workshops are distinguished by their decorative and chromatic richness, as well as by the variety of shapes: decorative plates and vessels. In general, Far Eastern ceramic pieces were purchased from the Constantinopolitan market through the Maltese documentary painter, Amedeo Preziosi (1816 – 1882).
Persian pottery is illustrated by several grease vessels from the 17th and 18th centuries, representative of ceramics from the Safavid era (1502 – 1736). The pieces are characterized by the finesse of the semi-transparent turquoise glaze as well as the precision of the stylized drawing. The summary of the journey through the oriental ceramic workshops ends with the Turkish series ceramics of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, manufactured by the famous Iznik workshop, remarkable for the beauty and symmetry of the floral and geometric decoration, as well as for the vivid chromatic and varied.
European ceramics constitute the core of the collection and are defined by a great stylistic diversity. Within the European segment, the 19th century faience occupies a central place because it was the bearer of the historical and ideological values of the Renaissance era. Spanish ceramics are illustrated by various pieces, decorated with heraldic motifs in dark cobalt-blue or ocher tones, created by the Toledo and Talavera workshops.
The fashion of ceramics à l'ancienne, with deep roots in the Renaissance, promoted by the Italian ceramic masters, also successfully imposed itself at the court of King Charles I. The sovereign's choices are greatly influenced by the artistic education received in the bosom of his family in Sigmaringen. The ceramics copy or are inspired by the spectacular forms of the 15th - 16th centuries, pieces by Luca della Robbia, amphorae with snake handles, apothecary vessels, trilobed cups, decorative plates and adapt the decorations of raffaelesche, grotesque, istoriato, coppa d' amore, bella donna, etc., to the new technical conquests recorded up to the historical century.
The Italian faience collection of the Peleș Castle includes significant pieces from all the established workshops of the period: Ginori, Caffaggiolo, Torelli, Cantagalli, Faenza, Deruta, Savona, Gubbio, Orvietto, Nove, Capodimonte and Urbino. The decorative motifs typical of the Urbino and Faenza workshops, crystallized since the 16th century, are integrated into the decorative repertoire of the Faenza or Ginori pieces. The most important suppliers of the Roman Royal House are Alberto Issel from Genoa, in 1884, 1885, Moise della Torre&Co. from Florence, in 1911 and Manifattura di Signa, Artistic Terrecotte from Florence in 1912, etc. Along with the historical pieces, the royal collection includes some original pieces, of great sophistication, dating from the 16th - 17th centuries.
The German porcelain in the royal collection is characterized by typological variety and artistic quality. Alongside the inspired figurines of the Meissen workshop – some of them copies of great 18th-century artists such as Johann Joachim Kändler, the famous German sculptor and foremost porcelain molder in Böttger's workshop – are Ilmenau, Rosenthal and Nymphenburg pieces : tea services, table settings, brûlée-perfume dishes, decorative plates, etc. German exporters included Kunstgewerbe, Werkstatt des Architecten R. Bichweiler in Hamburg, Königliche Hof–Kunst–Anstalt von CW Fleischmann in Nuremberg, E. Crauer in Creuznach, in 1881, J. von Schwartz, Artistische – Fajance und Terracotta – Fabrik in Leipzig in 1884, Julius Lange, Glass, Porzellan und Majolica – Waaren – Lager in Berlin in 1885 and Bayerische Kunstgewerbe – Verein in Munich in 1896.
To the German ceramics in the royal collection are added the famous Dutch Delft vessels, from the 18th and 19th centuries, worked in camaïeu, inspired by the extreme oriental decorative motifs, as well as the fine porcelains manufactured in Austria, in Vienna or in the centers of Bohemia, such as Pirkenhammer, the porcelain factory that still operates today. One of the most prolific suppliers of Austrian ceramics to the Romanian Royal House was the Carlo Vanni firm in 1869 and 1872, Fabrik von Rococo – Schmuck und Kunst – Gegenstenten in 1872, Münzen Antiquitäten in 1872 and J. Weidman in 1900, all companies from Vienna.
The English pottery in the royal collection comes from the London workshops of Wedgwood, Tunstall, Minton, Johnson Bros, Copeland and Doulton-Lambeth. Imitation of German ceramics, especially stoneware, Chinese porcelain and the typology of silver pieces, English pottery gradually acquires originality and value, becoming an independent art. In the early 19th century, Josiah Spode II, an 18th-century master potter in Stoke-upon-Trent, combined china clay, stoneware and glaze to make bone china, which imitated porcelain but was cheaper. King Charles I purchases most of the English plays through Theodor Held in London. The company WPLG Philips, China and Glass Manufactures from the capital of the United Kingdom also supplies Minton tiles to the Romanian sovereign.
The dishes and animal figurines from Copenhagen, the Hungarian Art 1900 pieces, the series washbasin services created by the Szolnay-Pecs and Fischer manufactories, the large Russian dishes, manufactured in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, although reduced in number, give the collection a great diversity. In the royal collection, there are several pieces of current use alongside replicas of the old German stoneware, manufactured in Bucharest or Transylvanian workshops.
Intended to give color to royal interiors, the ceramics from Peleș and Pelișor castles are part of the national heritage as one of the most important and coherent collections of decorative art in Romania.