Maiolica

by C. Drury E. Fortnum

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.