The Collector's Handbook to Keramics of the Renaissance and Modern Periods Part 2

Grue was a painter about the same time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 29.--BOWL AND COVER. _18th Century._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 30.--EWER AND BASIN. _18th Century._]

Fig. 29, a bowl and cover, painted with nude figures after Annibale Caracci; and filled in with fruit, foliage, and cartouches, is signed "Liborius Grue P."

NAPLES

Maiolica was made in the city of Naples in the 17th century, but little is known respecting it. Examples of the fayence of the 18th century are frequently met with, signed FDV--F. del Vecchio; Giustiniani; the letter N crowned, and sometimes the letters H.F.

MONTE LUPO

The plates and dishes of coa.r.s.e heavy earthenware, rudely painted with large caricature figures of soldiers and men in curious Italian costumes of the 17th and 18th centuries, in menacing and warlike att.i.tudes, striding across the plates, holding swords, spears, and other weapons, are usually attributed to Monte Lupo, near Florence. The manufactory is still in existence.

Fig. 31, is signed on the back "Raffaello Girolamo fecit Monte Lupo 1639."

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 31.--PLATE. THREE CAVALIERS.]

MILAN

No specimens can be identified of an earlier date than the 18th century.

The fayence is usually painted with grotesque figures, but sometimes with flowers and scrolls in relief, also with Watteau or Chinese subjects. (See Fig. 33.)

Some pieces, apparently of a later date, are from the manufactory of Pasquale Rubati, and usually signed with his initials.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 32.--eCUELLE AND DISH. _18th Century._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 33.--EWER AND DISH. _18th Century._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 34.--CUP AND PLATE. _18th Century._]

TURIN

That there was a manufactory of maiolica at Turin in the 16th century is proved by a dish with pierced border, painted on the inside with a boy carrying two birds on a long pole; it is marked underneath--Fatta in Torino adi 12 di Setebre 1577 (see Fig. 35). The manufactory was in existence in the first half of the 18th century and was under Royal patronage, as a large dish which was in the collection of the Marquis D'Azeglio is inscribed on the back of the rim: "Fabrica Reale di Torino GR 1737." In the centre of the reverse is a monogram composed of F. R.

T. (Fabbrica Reale Torino).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 35.--DISH. _Dated_ 1577.]

FERRARA

Alfonso I., Duke of Ferrara, himself occasionally worked in a room attached to his palace, and is said to have discovered a fine white colour, which was adopted by the _fabriques_ of Urbino. He died in 1534.

His successor, Duke Alfonso II., summoned Camillo Fontana (son of the celebrated Orazio Fontana of Urbino) in 1567 to give new life to the manufactory. All the well-known pieces bearing the _impresa_ of the Duke, a flame of fire and the motto "ARDET ETERNUM," were produced at this _fabrique_, about 1579. At a much later period, probably late in the 17th century, there was still a manufactory here.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 36.--PLATEAU. THE TRIUMPH OF BACCHUS. _First Half of the 18th Century._]

Ba.s.sANO, NEAR VENICE

A _fabrique_ (according to V. Lazori) was founded here about 1540, by Simone Marinoni, but it is not known how long it lasted. Later pieces of the 17th century bear a certain resemblance to the Castelli ware. In 1728, a manufactory of maiolica was set on foot by the sisters Manardi, which was continued in 1735 by Giovanni Antonio Caffo; and some time after, but previous to 1753, another was carried on by Giovanni Maria Salmazzo.

GENOA

Piccolpa.s.si speaks of Genoa as a great mart for maiolica about the year 1540. He tells us the patterns painted--arabesques, leaves, landscapes, &c.--and the prices charged, but no specimens of this early date have hitherto been identified. The fayence of the 18th century, however, is of frequent occurrence; its decoration is much the same as that of Savona, viz. rude and hasty sketches in blue _camaeu_, sometimes with small caricature figures in the style of Callot. In consequence of Genoa's maritime position, the mark selected for this ware was a beacon, by some erroneously called a lighthouse, from which some object is suspended on a pole.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 37.--BOTTLE. _18th Century._]

Fig. 37, a bottle, painted in blue with birds and scroll ornaments, has this mark.

SAVONA

The manufactory of Savona was founded in the 17th century at the village of Albissola, situated on the coast, near Savona. The ware is generally ornamented in blue on white ground, the designs are roughly executed, and the mark, consisting of a s.h.i.+eld of arms of the town, is often seen on the reverse. There are some other marks attributed to Savona: a double triangle with the letter S, called the "knot of Solomon"

(Salomone), the sun with G.S., the falcon mark, the tower mark, and the anchor mark, so called from these emblems being depicted on the ware.

Fig. 38, a basket, perforated and with two handles, is rudely painted with scrolls in yellow, blue, and green; in the centre is a cartouche with the letters S.A.G.S.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 38.--BASKET. _18th Century._]

LORETO

Although Santa Casa at Loreto is not strictly speaking a _fabrique_ of maiolica, yet maiolica is actually made within the precincts of the sanctuary. Bowls are made of clay, mixed with the dust shaken from the dress of the Virgin and walls of the sanctuary, and in this form are preserved by the faithful as tokens of their visit to the shrine.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 39.--TWO BOWLS.]

SGRAFFIATO OR INCISED WARE

The earthenware vessels with stanniferous enamel, called in Italy _sgraffiato_ ware, have been attributed to CITTa DI CASTELLO. They are engraved in outline and decorated _en engobe_--that is, the object before being glazed is covered with a second coating of coloured slip or _engobe_, on which is graved the ornament or design after it has been merely dried by the air, leaving a sort of _champ leve_, and afterwards baked in the kiln. These fayence vases are generally enamelled in yellow, green, and brown. Fig. 40, a bowl, is decorated with foliage, on the stem are three lions seated, in full relief; round the bowl runs a wreath of yellow flowers; and within is a man wrestling with a dragon, surrounded by a wreath. There was a manufactory of this _sgraffiato_ ware at LA FRATTA, near Perugia, which was continued down to a late period. Fig. 42, a basket-shaped pot, has ornaments in relief. Similar ware was also made at PAVIA in the 17th century.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 40.--BOWL OF INCISED WARE. _About_ 1460.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 41.--PLATE. Diam., 11-1/2 in. _About_ 1540.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 42.--RED GLAZED EARTHENWARE BASKET. _19th Century._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: HISPANO-MORESQUE

FIG. 43.--VASE. Height 20-3/4 in. _15th Century._]

SPAIN

The exact date of the introduction of enamelled pottery with l.u.s.tre-pigment into Spain is unknown, but the existence of manufactures of "golden" pottery at Calatayud, in Aragon, is testified to by the Mohammedan geographer Edrisi in the 12th century.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 44.--AZULEJO.]

The Hispano-Moresque period, which is best known to us from the numerous specimens preserved to our time, commences with the 14th century, when the Alhambra of Granada was erected by the Moors.

The earlier pieces of the 14th and 15th centuries may be distinguished by a golden yellow metallic l.u.s.tre, and blue enamel on a white ground.

The designs are Moorish, consisting of diaper patterns, foliage, fantastic and other animals, s.h.i.+elds of arms of Spanish princes, &c., and sometimes Arabic inscriptions, transformed into ornamental designs.

Fig. 43, a vase, is decorated with leaves and conventional flowers, in reddish yellow l.u.s.tre and blue.