Souvenir for Visit Košice

This piece was commissioned by Košice - Turizmus in response to an open call for local artists to create a souvenir that would represent the city of Košice, Slovakia. The souvenir takes the form of an illustrated porcelain treasure box depicting a magical evening walk through the city under a starry sky and is inspired by the historical Gold Treasure of Košice, a large hoard of gold coins that were discovered in a box during reconstruction in the city of Košice in 1935.

The illustration adorns a porcelain treasure box designed as a souvenir for the city of Košice. The illustration of buildings from the streets of Košice wrap around the porcelain box like a tiny map of the city. The design will be available for purchase from Košice Visitor’s Center from July 2021.

The original illustration was hand drawn in pen, then scanned and transformed into a digital illustration. I worked with the Slovakian Ceramics Artist Štefan Sekáč to design and produce the porcelain box which was handmade in Slovakia. The digital illustration was then printed on a waterslide decal paper which was applied to the porcelain by hand. A gold glaze was used to create the metallic stars. Each treasure box has its own unique gold starry sky. As the work is handmade, it is edition variable.

Photo taken by Ján Varchola.