Henryk ROKITA (1930–2020), The Pensive Christ, Rędocin, 2017

clay; height: 25.5 cm
mark engraved on the base: made by / Henryk / Rokita / Rędocin / 2017

He was born on January 19, 1930, in Rędocin, in the former Radom Province, and lived there. He came from a well-known family of potters. His father, Andrzej Rokita, inherited the pottery workshop from Jan Krawczyński, who, having moved from Ćmielów at the end of the 19th century, established the first pottery workshop in Rędocin. His older brother, Wacław, was also a potter. After Wacław’s death, the pottery workshop was taken over by Stanisław, Henryk’s nephew. In addition to the Rokita family, the following people were involved in pottery in Rędocin: Stefan Kwapisz, Marian Seweryński, Antoni Szubartowski, Jarosław Rodak, and Krystyna Mołdawa, who sculpted figurines from clay. Almost all of the potters, including Henryk Rokita, were members of the “Chałupnik” Cepelia Cooperative in Iłża, for which they produced various types of functional and decorative tableware, as well as clay figurines and toys.
The potter was known for his participation in numerous folk art competitions, exhibitions, and fairs. He took part in them from the very beginning of his collaboration with the “Chałupnik” Cooperative, that is, from 1953.
He was the recipient of numerous awards, honors, and diplomas. His works are found in all major ethnographic museums and open-air museums in Poland: Radom, Kielce, Lublin, Warsaw, Toruń, Kraków, etc. They have also found their way into foreign collections. H. Rokita was a member of the STL (Polish Folk Art Association), a scholarship recipient from the Ministry of Culture and Art, Cepelia, and various museums.