We are fortunate in possessing a manual of the Italian potters’ art of
the sixteenth century, in the manuscript by the “Cavaliere Cipriano
Piccolpassi Durantino,” as he signs his name on the title page of his
work. Nearly all the information on this branch of the subject, conveyed
to us by Passeri and subsequently by Sig. Giuseppe Raffaelli and other
writers, has been gathered from that manuscript written in 1548. We
think we cannot do better than go at once to this fountain head, and
epitomize the information it conveys, upon the manner and materials,
upon the forms and decoration, of maiolica.
After a “prologo” in which the author defends himself from the invidious
remarks of others, he tells us how the earth or clay brought down by the
river _Metauro_ was gathered from its bed during the summer when the
stream was low, and by some was made into large balls, which were stowed
in holes (_terrai_) purposely dug in the ground; by others it was
previously dried in the sun; here it remained to mellow and purge itself
from impurities, which otherwise would be injurious. This same method of
gathering the material for the foundation of the wares was adopted at
many other places. At Venice the earth of Ravenna and Rimini is worked,
although they frequently use that dug at Battaglia, near Padua, but for
the better sort that of Pesaro.
Our author enters into further details of the method of gathering the
potters’ clay where there are no rivers, by digging a succession of
square pits connected by a channel in the depressions between hills,
into which the earth, washed by showers of rain, is refined in its
passage from pit to pit. For inferior wares the earth is then collected
on a table and well beaten with an iron instrument, weighing twelve
pounds, three or four times, being kneaded with the fingers as a woman
would in making bread, and all impurities carefully removed. Afterwards
it is formed into masses, from which a piece is taken to work upon the
wheel or press into moulds. If the earth is too “morbida” it is placed
upon the wall or house top, on sieves, through which it is washed by the
rain, and gathered in old broken vases, &c., placed beneath.
For making wares “all’ urbinate” (meaning probably with a white ground)
the dug clay ought to be white, for if of a blue colour it will not take
the tin glaze; this, however, is not objectionable if it is to be
covered with a slip of “terra di Vicenza” (a white clay), a method which
he terms “alla castellana.” But it is the reverse with the clay gathered
from the beds of rivers, the blue in this case being of the better
quality.
It is difficult for us now accurately to apply the names which he gives
to the variously shaped pieces, and the more so, as we are informed that
in our author’s time various names were attached by different artists
and at different potteries to the same form. Thus the “Vaso a pera” was
also known as “Vaso da due maniche” and “Vaso Dorico;” and the body of
such a vase was by some made in one piece, by others in two or three,
making joints at the lower part and at the insertion of the neck, and
uniting them by means of lute (_barbatina_). Vases and jugs with
pyriform bodies, moulded handles, and shaped spouts, or lips, were known
as “a bronzo antico” (fig. 1), their forms, doubtless, being derived
from the antique bronze vessels discovered in excavations.
Some of these pieces have a stopper fitting into the neck by a screw,
the worm of which is worked upon it by means of a piece of wood
(_stecca_) formed with projecting teeth, the interior of the neck being
furnished with a corresponding sunken worm. The details of all these
methods are illustrated on the third table of
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
his atlas of plates. After telling us that the _albarello_ (fig. 2), or
drug pot, universally known under that name, is made of different sizes
and always of one piece, our author describes the manner of
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
forming the _Vaso senza bocca_ (fig. 3), a sort of puzzle jug with
hermetically fixed cover on the top and an opening beneath the foot,
from which an inverted funnel rises inside the body of the vase. To fill
it, the piece must be turned upside down and the liquid poured into the
funnel below, and may be again poured out at the spout when required,
in the ordinary way, the vase having been placed upright.
It is hardly necessary to give a list of different forms, but we may
follow our author in his description of that set of five, or sometimes
nine separate pieces, which, fitting together, form a single vase (fig.
4). These sets, known as “scudella da donna di parto” or “vasi
puerperali,” were made for the use of ladies in their confinements, and
consist of the following pieces:--(1.) The broth basin or _Scodella_, on
raised foot. Over this fits the lid (2), which also does duty as a plate
(_Tagliere_) for the roll or slice of bread; inverted over this is the
drinking cup. (3), _Ongaresca_, upon the foot of which fits the salt
cellar, _Saliera_ (4), surmounted by its cover (5). The particulars of
the arrangement of the nine pieces are not given. Single portions of
these are to be found in collections, but the present writer is not
aware of any one complete set having been preserved.
Using either the _mugiuolo_ or the _scudella_, the mass of clay placed
upon the disk is revolved by the wheel and fashioned into form with the
hands, assisted by variously shaped pieces of flat wood (_stecche_) and
moulding tools of iron (_serri_) all of which are figured in
Piccolpasso’s designs.
The forms of the seggers, _case_ (that is, cases made of fire-clay and
pierced with holes, in which the finer wares are baked, being thus
protected from dirt or accident in the furnace), and the composition of
the clay of which they were made, as also of the _tagli_, _punte_,
_smarelle_, _pironi_, &c. variously formed tripods and supports for
holding the pieces to be fired, are given us in detail. The clay
consists of a mixture of the red earth used for coarser wares and the
white, which is reserved for vases and finer pieces.
Shaped pieces with ornaments in relief, masks, spouts, handles, &c. are
formed in moulds made of plaster of Paris (_gesso_) upon the original
models. The mould being ready, the potter’s clay is formed into a
cheese-shaped mass of a diameter suitable to the size of the mould;
from this slices are cut by means of a wire worked over two pieces of
wood of the thickness of the required slice, and placed at either side
of the cheese of clay. A slice of even thickness being thus obtained it
is pressed by the hand into the hollows of the mould; that for the other
side of the piece is then steadily pressed over the clay which occupies
the corresponding mould, and the excess exuding from the edge between is
neatly cut away. The foot would be similarly formed in another mould,
and subsequently attached to the bowl by means of lute (_barbatina_).
This lute is made of the finer quality of clay, much worked and allowed
to dry, then mixed with a certain quantity of the shearings of fine
woollen cloth, kneaded with water and diluted to the consistence of
thick cream.
To make shaped vases or ewers (_bronzi antiche_) a mould is formed to
each side of the piece, uniting longitudinally at the handle and spout;
the clay pressed into each of these is neatly cut from the edge by means
of the _archetto_, a wire strained across a forked stick, and joined to
the corresponding side with _barbatina_ by which also the handle, formed
in another mould, is attached to the piece, the inside being smoothed at
the joint by means of a knobbed stick (_bastone_). The pieces known as
“abborchiati,” such as salt-cellars with ornaments in rilievo, are made
in the same manner, as are also the “smartellati” or tazze, &c. formed
after the manner of pieces in beaten metal (_repoussé_) with bosses and
radiating compartments in relief. The basket-like pieces (_canestrella_)
were similarly moulded.
In his second book Piccolpasso gives the receipts and methods of
preparing the glaze and colours, commencing with the “marzacotto,” the
silicate of potass or glass, which is the foundation of all glaze. We
are then told the manner of constructing a reverberatory furnace in
which the tin and lead can be oxydized, and which is built of brick with
an earth called “sciabione,” probably a sort of fire-clay. It consists
of an elongated square structure divided longitudinally into two
compartments, in one of which is placed the fire, while the other is
occupied, on a higher level, by a shallow tray or trough made of _tufo_,
a volcanic stone, or of brickwork, to contain the metals, upon and over
which the flame of the burning wood is made to play in its passage to
the draft hole at the end.
The construction of other furnaces is his next subject. They were built
of brick and of an elongated quadrilateral plan, divided into two
stories by an arched floor, pierced to allow of a free circulation to
the heat; the upper chamber, which is higher than the lower, is
furnished with four small openings on the upper part of either side
(_vedette_) and nine similar ones in the vaulted roof; the lower chamber
has a well or depression sunk about one foot beneath the surface to
receive the ashes from the fire, and both it and the upper one have an
arched opening or feeding door (_bocca_) at one end. The dimensions
usual at Castel Durante were six feet long by five wide, and six high,
but in Venice they were larger, for, says Piccolpasso, “I have seen one
at the house of Mº Francesco di Pier ten feet wide by twelve long,
outside, having three openings to feed the fire.”
In the upper chamber the wares are placed for baking, the finer sorts
being enclosed in the seggers (_case_) piled one above another, and the
coarser arranged between, supported by pieces of tile, &c. and so packed
as to fill the chamber as much as possible without impeding the free
current of the fire. This is the first baking, and at the same time the
pigments, prepared as previously described, are submitted to the action
of the fire in the upper part of the furnace. The opening to the upper
chamber is then roughly bricked and luted up, leaving only a small
orifice (_bocchetta_) in the upper part. The small lateral openings
(_vedette_) are also closed, and those in the roof loosely covered with
pieces of tile. The vases containing the mixture of sand and _feccia_
for making the _marzacotto_ are then placed upon each other under the
furnace at the further end (probably in the lower or fire chamber). All
being prepared, and invoking the name of God, “uso Christiano,” with
the sign of the cross, take a handful of straw and light the fire made
of well-dried wood placed in the lower chamber, and which must be
gradually increased for four hours, taking care that it is never pushed
too much, lest the pieces run or become too hard to receive the glaze.
The furnace should be of a clear heat all throughout and so continued
for about twelve hours, drawing away the ashes from below with the
“cacciabragie” or rake. When sufficiently baked let the fire burn out,
and remove the cinders that all may become cool.
We must refer to the Introduction to the large catalogue of the maiolica
collection at South Kensington for further extracts, quoting here one
sentence only where the author says, “And now I will give you the
‘sbiancheggiati’ that is made in Lombardy, bearing in mind that the
earth of Vicenza is used, making the design on the white earth; I would
say with a style of iron of this kind (gives design), and this drawing
is called ‘sgraffio.’” This is an interesting passage connecting as it
does these incised wares with the fabriques of Lombardy, to which, from
the character of the designs upon the earlier pieces, we have always
assigned them.
In his third book Piccolpasso goes into further details of the glaze and
colours, manner of painting, firing, &c.
The “bianchetto” which is only once baked, and the other colours, being
removed from the furnace, are triturated with water on a “piletta” or
hand colour mill, or by means of a pestle and mortar, to reduce them to
a fine powder, and passed through a horse-hair sieve. Some grind them on
a slab of porphyry which is even better. The green pigment may be baked
two or three times. The “zallo” and the “zallulino,” after once or twice
baking, are covered with earth and again baked in the hottest part of
the furnace.
The white enamel glaze, having been properly milled and fined through a
sieve, is made into a bath with water to the consistency of milk. The
pottery baked in biscuit is taken out of the furnace, and after being
carefully dusted with a fox’s tail is dipped into this bath of glaze and
immediately withdrawn, or some of the pieces may be held in the left
hand while the liquor is poured over them from a bowl. A trial piece
should show the thickness of glove leather in the adhering coat. The
“invetriatura” having been thus applied and the pieces allowed to dry
are now ready to receive the painting. This is executed with coarser and
finer brushes or _penelli_, made of goats’ and asses’ hair, and the
finest of the whiskers of rats or mice; the ordinary wares being held in
the left hand or on the left knee and the finer in wooden cases, lined
with tow, to prevent rubbing. A different brush must be used for each
colour. The painters generally sit round a circular table suspended from
the ceiling so that it may turn round, and upon this the different
pigments are placed.
The painted pieces after being dried in a clean place, taking care that
the “bianco” is not chipped or rubbed off, are painted with _zallulino_
on the outer edge and are then ready to receive the “coperta” or outer
glaze. The liquid of the bath must be thin, as a translucent coating
only is required over the colours; into this the pieces are dipped, and
being again dried are ready for the final firing.
In a supplement Piccolpasso gives us an account of the manner of making
_maiolica_, and it will be observed that throughout his narrative he has
never applied that term to the painted and glazed wares produced at his
own botega, or at any of the others to which he refers.
He tells us that he feels he ought not to omit the account of it which
he has received from others, although he has never made or even
witnessed the making of it himself. “I know well” he says “that it is
painted over finished works; this I have seen in Ugubio, at the house of
one Maestro Cencio.” The portion of the design which is to receive the
lustre colour is left white at the first painting; thus, a figure in a
grotesque whose extremities are to be lustred will only have those parts
painted which are to be coloured, leaving the extremities merely
sketched in outline upon the white ground; these, after the colours have
been set by firing, are subsequently touched with the lustre pigment.
The process of firing differs from the former one, because the pieces
are not enclosed in seggars but are exposed to the direct action of the
flames.
The furnace also is differently constructed, the fire chamber square in
form, having no arched roof pierced with holes but only two intersecting
arches of brick to support the chamber above, the four corners being
left as openings for the free current of the flames. Upon these arches
is placed a large circular chamber or vessel, formed of fire-clay, which
fits into the square brick structure, touching at the four sides and
supported on the intersecting arches beneath, but leaving the angles
free. This inner chamber is pierced in all directions with circular
holes, to allow the flames free passage among the wares. The method of
building these furnaces is kept guarded, and it is pretended that in it
and the manner of firing consist the great secrets of the art. The
_scudelli_ are packed with the edge of one against the foot of another,
the first being supported on an unglazed cup. The furnaces are small,
only from three to four feet square, because this art is uncertain in
its success, frequently only six pieces being good out of one hundred;
“true the art is beautiful and ingenious, and when the pieces are good
they pay in gold.” The fire is increased gradually, and is made of
_palli_ or dry willow branches; with these three hours firing is given,
then, when the furnace shows a certain clearness, having in readiness a
quantity of dry broom cease using the willow wood, and give an hour’s
firing with this; after, with a pair of tongs remove a sample from
above. Others leave an opening in one of the sides by which a sample or
trial, painted on a piece of broken ware, can be removed for
examination, and if it appears sufficiently baked decrease the fire.
This done, allow all to cool, then take out the wares and allow them to
soak in a lessive of soap-suds, wash and rub them dry with a piece of
flannel, then with another dry piece and some ashes (of wood) give them
a gentle rubbing, which will develope all their beauty.
“This is all, as it appears to me, that can be said about the maiolica,
as also about the other colours and mixtures that are required in this
art.”