Biography
Born in 1871 in Judenburg, Styria, Michael Powolny was initially trained as a potter. From 1891 to 1894 he studied at the technical school for the clay industry in Znojmo and then attended the Vienna School of Applied Arts, which he graduated in 1901. In 1906 he teamed up with Bertold Löffler and founded the Wiener Keramik. Just one year later, the Wiener Werkstätte took over the sale of the objects. In 1913, Wiener Keramik merged with Gmundner Keramik (United Vienna and Gmundner Ceramics, then Gmundner Tonwarenfabrik Schleiss Gesellschaft m.b.H.). From 1909 to 1936 Michael Powolny was a teacher at the Vienna School of Applied Arts. He died in Vienna in 1954.
