ORNO

The year 1949. Warsaw in ruins. A time of scarcity. One might assume, a time when nobody would even dream of owning any jewelry. Instead, Romuald Rychnicki establishes ORNO, a Polish Crafts Work Cooperative associated with Cepelia (Central Agency of Folk and Artistic Industry). The word ‘orno’ is Latin for: I adorn. It became the Cooperative’s motto. First in the post-war era and then in the times of the Polish People’s Republic, ORNO operated according to an extraordinary idea. In the Cooperative, anyone could be an artisan and a designer at the same time. The fundamental branch of ORNO production was jewelry made of silver. It was much cheaper and more readily available than gold.  Silver trinkets were adorned with semi-precious gemstones (agate, turquoise, quartz etc.), synthetic gemstones, and those seen as typically Polish: coral or amber. The jewelry was produced in short series. A special committee would select items for production, and the numbers never exceeded 100. Or it would be customized for private commission. It was not cheap at all. Wealthy women of Warsaw would purchase large silver accessories not worrying about spending an entire salary’s worth on a single ring. Half a century is a great deal of time. The Cooperative’s unusual idea manifested itself in another way as well. The seasoned members would take trips and visit various works of art. This way they could promptly react to changing trends and ORNO jewelry took on a variety of shapes and forms.  In the 1950s the works associated with folklore; decorative ‘curls’ were made from cut and coiled sheet metal as the hallmark idea. The 1960s brought about a series of trinkets inspired by abstract art. It featured asymmetrical and mobile elements in the form of pendants; making massive jewelry shapes a little lighter. The next change, instilled by the then new artistic director, sculptor Adam Myjak, exploited silver straining which gave the jewelry a sculptural effect. Toward the end of ORNO’s activity in the 1980s, the Cooperative promoted ‘engineering’-style objects of geometric form and smooth polished surfaces.