Austrian Ambassador Petra Schneebauer sips from the Gmundner Keramik set given out to attendees of the Austrian National Day October 25 at the embassy. Photo courtesy of the Embassy of Austria.

In addition to the excellent wine, strudel, and entertainment, guests at the Embassy of Austria’s National Day celebration on October 25 were treated with a parting gift – a selection of Made in Austria items including jam, a cutting board, and exquisite salt.

While each of the items was delightful, one item was particularly striking, a Gmundner Keramik cup and saucer set. Beautiful to look at and comfortable to hold with a hot coffee or cocoa on a cold morning, the real beauty of the set lies in the accompanying book that shared its history.

Created in a factory in Upper Austria, each piece of Gmundner Keramik is made entirely by hand, from the blending of the raw materials, to the molding and painting. For over 300 years, the pieces have been decorated using a traditional artisan technique called “flaming” in which a flamer will spray the paint through a hose with a fine tip, rather than paint it directly onto the ceramic. Ensuring the paint is applied evenly requires the flamer to keep the paint in a constant, steady flow. It takes an apprentice two years to learn the 110 designs in the Flamed series. Gmundner Keramik claims it is the only company in the world that has mastered the technique.

The set selected for the gift tote were of the Traunsee pattern, a signature pattern of the brand so named after Lake Traunsee, on the shores of which sit the town of Gmunden, home of the Gmundner Keramik factory.

*The Embassy of Austria gave sets of Gmundner Keramik to all attendees of their National Day celebration. Gmundner Keramik is not a sponsor of Diplomatica.

A close up of the Gmundner Keramik set, with its hand-flamed design. Photo by Diplomatica Global Media.
A close up of the Gmundner Keramik set, with its hand-flamed design. Photo by Diplomatica Global Media.

Molly McCluskey is an award-winning investigative journalist, foreign correspondent, and media entrepreneur. She is the founder of Diplomatica Global Media and the creator of Great Reads from Around the...