FAENZA.
That long and rather monotonous old post road the Via Æmilia (now run
sidelong by the rail) which forms almost a straight line from Piacenza
to Ancona, through one of the richest countries in the world, after
passing the fine cities of Parma, Reggio, Modena, and Bologna, reaches
Faenza and Forlì, important and early centres of the potter’s art.
Faenza is a small dull town on the site of the Roman _Faventia_, and of
the antiquity of the ceramic industry at this site there can be no
doubt, although perhaps Pesaro, Caffaggiolo, and Castel Durante may have
nearly equal claims in that respect. Of its extent and importance there
is equal certainty, and there is moreover great reason to believe that
the French word _faïence_ applied to this class of pottery was derived
from the name of the place; although there is another claimant in the
small town, under the Estrelle mountains, a short way from Cannes and
Grasse, called by the very name, Faiance (_Faventia_), and now
_chef-lieu_ of a canton in Draguignan of the Var. Mezerai, in his
_Grande Histoire_, tells us that this place was chiefly renowned for its
_Vaisselles de terre_, and there would seem to be good evidence of the
existence of its potteries from a very early period to the present day;
but of what degree of artistic merit we are unable to decide; neither
can we feel assured that the name, as applied to enamelled earthenware,
was derived from the French town and not from the Italian city. In Mr.
Marryat’s history of pottery and porcelain is an interesting notice on
this subject, from which we quote a few words. “Faïence, Fayence, or
Fayance, is the old French term, under which were comprised all
descriptions of glazed earthenware, even inclusive of porcelain, and, to
a certain extent, continues so, corresponding in its general use to the
English word crockery. The name is commonly supposed to be derived from
Faenza; but it may well be doubted whether upon any authority much to be
relied upon, since neither historians nor topographers seem to have
considered the matter worthy of their attention or examination. It might
be useful to trace the origin of a name so frequently given by the
Romans to their settlements. Besides Faenza there was a district in
their colony of Barcinum (now Barcelona), and another in Andalusia,
which is supposed to have been situated somewhere between Alcala, Real,
and Antequera. The old word Fayence, from the Latin ‘fagus,’ a beech
tree, has become almost obsolete in France. In Geneva, however, to the
present day, beechwood is still sold in the timber markets as ‘de la
fayence.’”
The fabrique of Faenza has been a kind of refuge, among amateurs, for
pieces destitute of sufficient outward sign to mark them as of other
localities; and every gaunt and early piece, strong in blue and yellow
colour, has been set down as Faentine. We agree with MM. Jacquemart and
Darcel in the belief that many works of Caffaggiolo have been classed as
of Faenza. We are, however, not convinced that the plaque in the hôtel
Cluny, the piece bearing the most ancient date hitherto discovered (if
we except that at Sèvres, inscribed xxxxiiiiiiii., and supposed to read
1448), inscribed in early characters around the sacred monogram,
“NICOLAUS DE RAGNOLIS AD HONOREM DEI ET SANCTI MICHAELIS FECIT FIERI ANO
1475” is rightly attributed to Caffaggiolo instead of to Faenza. Another
plaque in the Sèvres collection is dated 1477, with the name and arms of
NICOLAVS · ORSINI. We next arrive at the exquisite service, of which
seventeen pieces are preserved in the Correr museum at Venice, one in
the writer’s (from Pourtalès), and one in the South Kensington
collection; we give a woodcut of the mark, with the date 1482.
[Illustration]
The first published matter bearing upon the wares of Faenza is the
passage by Garzoni in the _Piazza Universale_, a publication of 1485, in
which he speaks of the pottery of this place as excellent for its
whiteness, &c. _che fa le majoliche così bianche e polite_, a remark
borne out by the quality of the service just referred to. In the church
of St. Petronio at Bologna is a pavement of tiles covering the ground of
the chapel of St. Sebastian, and without doubt laid down at the expense
of Donato Vaselli, a canon of that Basilica, who about 1487 decorated
that chapel at his own cost. The date upon one of these tiles is 1487,
and upon others are inscriptions, in parts unfortunately imperfect from
the injury or misplacement of some of the squares, but which as put
together by signor Frati of that city, would read BOLOQNIESVS · BETINI ·
FECIT: while upon other tiles occur:--
+-----------------+
|. C . . ELIA · BE|
| F . . . TICIE |
+-----------------+
+---------------+
| . ZETILA · BE |
| . FAVETCIE |
+---------------+
+-------------+
| XABETA · BE |
| FAVENTCIE |
+-------------+
and again upon another a small label inscribed PETRVS · ANDRE · DEFAVE.
Whatever doubt may attach to the Faentine origin of the plaque in the
hôtel Cluny, dated 1475, there can be none in respect to the pavement of
San Petronio: the fact of the name _Petrus Andre-de-Fave_ occurring,
independent of the others, upon a _piccolo cartello_ seems to us an
indisputable proof to that effect. It is painted with great skill, in a
style of colouring and with ornaments which we are accustomed to
attribute to Faenza; trophies, animals, heads, the arms of Bologna and
her motto, the keys of St. Peter, and various devices are represented;
among them the silver case of lancets on a green field, and the wounded
vein, _imprese_ of the Manfredi family of Faenza.
Referring the reader to the full explanation given in the introduction
to the large catalogue of Maiolica, we can give here only a few brief
remarks upon the wares attributed to Faenza under the following heads:--
A. The produce of the Casa Pirota.
B. By Baldasara Manara.
C. Pieces by the painter of the Correr service, and of his botega.
D. By other artists presumably of Faenza.
E. Wares of the last century and modern.
A. One of the most important if not the leading establishment at Faenza
was known under the name of the Casa Pirota, and probably existed from
an early period, but when and by whom founded, and the name of its
maestro, we have yet to learn. A house on the north side of the
principal street (where a pottery was working some few years since, at
which we have seen well-executed reproductions of the old wares) was
stated by the proprietors to be on the site of that ancient botega, but
whether there is sufficient foundation for this statement we are unable
to say.
The greater part or nearly all the pieces known to us as being marked
with the crossed circle, signed with the name of the house, or executed
by the same hands as such pieces, are of a marked character of
decoration; the wide borders are generally ornamented with grotesques,
reserved in white and shaded with a brownish yellow; or reserved in a
paler greyish tone heightened with white, on a dark blue ground. _A
berettino_ and _sopra azzuro_ are the terms applied to this mode of
decoration, and among examples of the former and perhaps earlier of the
styles, are works of the highest quality of enamelled pottery and of
admirable decoration and artistic painting. The woodcut is from a good
plate of about 1520; at South Kensington, no. 1734: and we give also a
copy of the mark on the reverse.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The work of at least three painters is discernible upon the wares of
this establishment. First and foremost are those charming pieces of the
greatest technical excellence by the painter of the shallow bowl at
South Kensington, no. 354, which is marked at the back with the crossed
circle, having a pellet in one of the quarters, and has for subject,
Mutius Scævola. By him are other pieces similarly shaped and decorated
with borders of grotesques reserved in white, shaded in brownish yellow
on the blue ground, and central subjects painted in a similar tone.
[Illustration]
We next have the author of the fine plateau, no. 7158, and of the better
examples of those abundant pieces having central subjects painted in a
greenish yellow tone on the _berettino_, or coats of arms emblazoned,
and wide borders covered with grotesques in a lighter tone heightened
with white on the dark blue ground. This artist also ventured into
bolder subjects upon plaques of considerable size, two of which, one
representing the Adoration of the Magi, are in the British museum; over
a portico which forms a background to the composition, the crossed
circle and pellet, mark of the fabrique, and the date 1527 are
inscribed, while on the reverse is a yellow roundel between the letters
B. B. F. F. and the same date. Rather earlier, is the plate (in the
woodcut p. 168) which although by some attributed to Caffaggiolo, is
probably of Faenza. The richly decorated back leads to this conclusion.
Not to be confounded with these masters, the last of whom by way of
distinction is known among amateurs as the “green man,” are works by a
more able artist who painted in colours of the richest tone with
admirable disposition and vigorous design, and who also signed with the
same initials. The finely treated subject of the Gathering of the Manna,
on the plate no. 7680, is by this hand, whose works are neither
ornamented at the back, nor signed with the mark of the fabrique.
[Illustration]
B. The first notice we have of Baldasara Manara occurs in Zani’s
“Enciclopedia Metodica,” in which work, under the name of _Mannara_, he
refers to the signature of the artist upon a _sotto coppa_ with the
accompanying mark. This tazza, now in the possession of the writer, is
perhaps the most important signed example known, and represents the
triumph of Time; it is one of a service decorated with orange scale-work
on the yellow ground of the reverse, and of which other pieces still
exist.
C. Wanting the inscribed name of the locality at which they were
painted, we are quite prepared to acquiesce in the maturely considered
opinion of signor Lazari, that the beautiful service, 17 pieces of which
are in the Museo Correr at Venice, and other works painted by the same
admirable early artist were produced at Faenza. They perfectly agree
with the qualities lauded by Garzoni at the approximate period of their
production, one of them being dated 1482; and no wares of that period
could in their qualities of enamel be more worthy of the expression
_bianche polite_ than the pieces of this service. We have no clue to the
name of the painter. That they were the production of a botega distinct
from the Casa Pirota seems assured, from their dissimilarity in
technical quality and style of ornamentation to the wares of that
productive house, and the absence of its distinctive mark; but there is
great similarity in their glaze and other details to the pieces painted
by another excellent hand who signs with the letters F. R.
[Illustration]
D. A multitude of homeless casuals have been attributed to the workshops
of Faenza, from technical characteristics and manner of decoration,
while as many more of somewhat different complexion have been
promiscuously charged upon Urbino. Our ignorance of the exact localities
of their production from want of evidence leads to this doubtful
generalization, and until the discovery of signed specimens by the same
hands, or documental record, we must still in numerous cases rest
content with our assumption.
[Illustration]
Many early pieces, modelled in high relief and in the round, are
probably of this origin. The very fine tazza, represented in the
woodcut, is a good example. They differ from parallel pieces ascribed to
Caffaggiolo in a certain rigidity of modelling, the use of a shading and
outline of a darker or more indigo-like blue, and a free application of
yellow and orange pigments; a more gothic sentiment also prevails from
the influence of the German school, and we find subjects copied or
derived from the works of Dürer, Martin Schön, &c., more frequently upon
the higher class of Faentine wares than on those of painters working at
the more southern centres of the art. The contemporary pieces of
Caffaggiolo are more Italian in sentiment, the blue pigment of greater
brilliancy, a purple also used, and a thicker glaze of great richness
and more _tendre_ effect.
From an early period Faenza seems to have produced a large number of
electuary pots and pharmacy bottles; a pair are in the hôtel Cluny, one
bearing the name FAENZA, the other 1500. Many of these vases are
decorated in the style known as _a quartiere_, being divided into
compartments, painted in bright yellow, &c., on dark blue, with foliated
and other ornament, and usually having a medallion with profile head or
subject on one side, under which the name of the drug in gothic
lettering is inscribed on a ribbon. A curious example is in the British
museum; a large flask-shaped bottle of dark blue ground with yellow
leafage and with twisted handles, upon the medallion of which is
represented a bear clasping a column, with the inscription “_et sarrimo
boni amici_,” allusive, in all probability, to the reconciliation of the
rival houses of Orsini and Colonna in 1517.
We would here refer to the frequent occurrence on these vases, as
occasionally upon other pieces, of pharmaceutical and ecclesiastical
signs, letters, &c. surmounted by the archiepiscopal cross and other
emblems which we believe have reference to the uses of monastic and
private pharmacies for which the services were made, and not to be
confounded, as has been too frequently the case, with the marks of
boteghe or of the painters of the piece. These emblems have no other
value to us than the clue which they might afford to patient
investigation of the locality and brotherhood of the conventual
establishment to which they may have belonged, and among the archives of
which may be recorded the date and the fabrique by which they were
furnished. But what are of far greater interest are those admirable
early pieces, painted by ceramic artists of the first rank, who, beyond
a rare monogram or date, have left no record of their place or name; and
whose highly-prized works, for their authors are several, are jealously
guarded in our public and private museums. Some of these, with
reasonable probability, are believed to have been executed at Faenza.
Several examples are preserved, of an early character, perhaps the work
of one hand, who marked them on the back with a large M crossed by a
paraphe. They are usually plateaux with raised centre, on which is a
portrait head, or shallow dishes with flat border. Variations of the
letter F are found on pieces, some of which are fairly ascribable to
this fabrique, but we need not point out the fact that many other
localities of the manufacture can claim the same for their initial
letter, and that the characteristics and technical qualities of the
pieces themselves are a necessary test.
Later in the sixteenth century, when subject painting covering the whole
surface of the piece was in general fashion (_istoriata_), the unsigned
works produced at Faenza are difficult to distinguish from those of
other fabriques. Some examples exist in collections, as one in the
Louvre with the subject of a cavalry skirmish and inscribed 1561 _in
Faenca_, but we have no knowledge of their painters, and even the
occurrence of the name of that city is but rarely met with. Her wares
are usually richly ornamented on the back with imbrication, as was the
manner of Manara, or with concentric lines of blue, yellow, orange.
E. Of the pottery produced at Faenza during the seventeenth and the last
century we have but little record. Some pharmacy vases are mentioned by
M. Jacquemart signed “Andrea Pantales Pingit, 1616,” but the signature
does not appear to be accompanied by the name of that city. In 1639
Francesco Vicchij was the proprietor of the most important fabrique.
A modern establishment professes to occupy the premises of the ancient
Casa Pirota, where we have seen fairly good reproductions of the
ordinary _sopra azzuro_ plates of the old botega, but these are but weak
imitations, and the glory of Faentine ceramic art must be looked for in
museums.