Ceramic dedicated to the heroism of the Polish people

Edgar Miller
1939
Painted ceramic
Diameter: 26 cm

Unique amongst Miller's ceramic plates, this piece is simple and unglazed, and compared to Miller’s fine porcelain creations, it is somewhat clunky in its shape and texture. The image, however, tells a much more profound story. In 1939, upon the invasion of Poland by the German panzers, an apocryphal story circulated internationally about how in the face of certain defeat, the outnumbered and technologically inferior cavalry of Poland nonetheless charged against the oncoming invasion, to their certain deaths. This account was even reported by The New York Times and other major American newspapers, and that is likely how it came into Miller's awareness.

Miller was so moved by the story, however untrue, that in honor of the heroism of the Polish peoples, he made this plate. The image of a cockerel is an important symbol in Polish mythology, representing a guard and protector, and personifying vigilance, resurrection, and bravery. Certainly Miller, who was at heart a pacifist, saw the oncoming Second World War as the inevitable outcome of years of brewing fascism in Europe and worldwide, and lamented what was to become of the countries which laid in the path of the armies of destruction.