In order to serve as an inspiration for Austrian designers, outstanding pieces of glass and ceramic art were purchased when the museum was founded. The by now encyclopedic collection covers all areas of design in glass and clay: hollow vessels from antiquity to the 21st century, artistically designed glass windows, mirrors, lamps and chandeliers, centerpieces, architectural ceramics, tiled stoves, figures, and busts. Contemporary works are continuously being added to the originally historical collection, thus placing a diametric focus on the past and the present of ceramic and glass art.

Ceramics

The MAK Ceramics Collection stands out with highlights from the entire history of the material since the Middle Ages. A particular focus is placed on Viennese porcelain production in the 18th century: The porcelain chamber from Dubsky Palace in Brno (ca. 1740) unites an interior design with more than 3,000 objects from earliest Viennese ceramics in a uniquely complete ensemble. The splendid cabinet is decorated to the top with the finest bowls, tiles, and figures from the second oldest Western porcelain manufactory of Claudius Innocentius du Paquier. A further focus point are Austrian ceramics from the 20th and 21st century with objects by designers from the Wiener Werkstätte and the Augarten Vienna Porcelain Manufactory. Exceptional artistic works are represented, for example, by the architectural ceramic sculptures by Franz Josef Altenburg or bowls by Lucie Rie.

Glass

The Glass Collection includes examples from the most important European manufacturers. Outstanding Venetian glasses from the 16th to 18th century—including the collection of Ferdinand of Tyrol from Ambras Castle—belong to the MAK, as do outstanding products from Silesian and Bohemian glass factories. They are represented by engraved, cut, and black-stain-painted glasses. The Biedermeier era is documented in the Collection, among other things, through glasses by the famous glass painters Samuel Mohn and Anton Kothgasser. With around 3,000 objects, the MAK owns the largest museum collection of glasses from the J. & L. Lobmeyr glass manufactory, founded in Vienna in 1823. The relationship between the MAK and the Lobmeyr company goes back to the founding of the museum and is an example of Austria’s outstanding role in modern glass design as well as of the mutual support between art and industry.