WARSAW, Poland — It was secret handiwork done for the CIA by experts in Poland: painted tableware with the intelligence agency’s logo.
Helena Smolenska, the head of the co-operative in Boleslawiec, in southern Poland, which made the unique set, said the hardest bit was to get the CIA logo on the pottery to be the right design and the right colour to match the set’s blue floral design.
Smolenska said Friday the stoneware set was done “a few months ago,” but she was not sure what exactly inspired the CIA to order it from the Boleslawiec Artistic Handicrafts Cooperative. She links it to a visit last year by U.S. troops, stationed nearby, who enjoyed trying to decorate some tea mugs.
The CIA has given permission for the co-operative to talk about the pottery.