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and rosettes, and Christian signs, such as vines and chalices. The best woodcarving was done by professional and amateur Slovak artists from the 18th to the 20th century. In contemporary Czechoslovakia, this art form has disappeared and is found mostly in museums because, as the country became more industrialized, woodcarving was rejected as a reminder of poverty and peasant ways.

Ceramics is also one of the oldest folk crafts, dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries when the first pottery was produced. Jugs were often decorated with brightly colored folk scenes. Later in the 19th century porcelain figurines were fashionable; they were often rococo in style and decorated with cobalt, purple, and burnished gold (Figure 15). In modern Czechoslovakia, ceramics remain a dynamic art form; artists are experimenting with new and abstract forms for figures, statuettes, and vessels of various kinds. A significant number of Czechoslovak ceramic works have won international prizes.

Czech artistry in glassmaking has long been internationally acclaimed. Originating in Bohemia, glassmaking became important in the 16th century with the development of cutlass. Examples of the fine glass work of that period were Kaspar Lehmann's goblets, decorated with allegories of the virtues. In the 17th century, cut crystal, characterized by carved lacy, star-like patterns inspired by folk embroidery, was developed.

'''FIGURE 15. A typical decorative porcelain figurine of the 19th century (U/OU)'''

One of the most creative artistic and technical periods of Czech glassmaking was the 18th century. New shapes for bottles, goblets, and flagons were conceived and decorated in new ways. Among these innovations were painted glass with allegorical motifs, created by Daniel Preissler; agate and opal colored gas, decorated with gold; double-walled glass which has become a collector's item; and glass engraving. Using heavy English lead glass, Czech artists engraved scenes of towns and spas; particularly fashionable were reproductions of famous paintings.

In the 20th century, impetus has been given to modern glassmaking by its organization into an industry and the establishment of schools. Moreover, the government has encouraged high standards for export purposes. New techniques continue to be discovered. In the 1930's, blown glass was introduced, and fine table glass was created by J. Sutnar and A. Loos. Since the 1940's, serviceability, simplicity, and technical purity have been combined (Figure 16). Noted contemporary artists are J. Soukup and V. Hanus, working in pressed glass, and M. Velishova and Rene Roubicek, skilled with hand-sculpted glass. One of the newest forms is free glass sculpture. S. Libensky and J. Brychtova, his wife, are recognized for their monumental windows, panels, and three-dimensional objects.

H. Public information (C)

The mass media in Czechoslovakia are extensive and well-developed, and completely under the control of the government and Communist Party. Justified in terms of Marxist-Leninist theories, both the media system and the control apparatus are oriented toward mobilizing the mind and will of the population and strengthening the party in its self-assigned role as leader, teacher, and guide of the people. While a considerable amount of educational and cultural material is also disseminated, these "nonpolitical" activities are not ends in themselves. They facilitate the prime task of ideological indoctrination and the effective realization of the party's economic and political goals.

In modern Czechoslovak history, the degree of control and restriction on the media have fluctuated. Prior to the 1948 Communist takeover, the Republic, functioning as a democracy, operated effectively under the 1920 constitution, which guaranteed freedom of the press. Even after controls on public information were established during the Communist period, the press functioned more freely in Czechoslovakia than in the other Eastern European countries. In fact, encouraged in the 1960's by radical

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