Maiolica

by C. Drury E. Fortnum

Those beautiful colours, known to the Italians as “rubino,” “cangiante,” “madreperla,” “a reverbero,” and to the French as “reflet métallique,” “nacré,” &c. have been to a certain extent reproduced. Unfortunately many pieces made in the manufactory at Doccia have, after chipping and scratching, been palmed upon unwary amateurs as ancient specimens by unprincipled dealers at Florence and elsewhere. Some of these modern examples are in the ceramic gallery at South Kensington. The most successful reproduction of the famous lustre has however been made at Gubbio itself by an able young chemist and artist, Luigi Carocci. Some of his productions are excellent, though far from having those artistic qualities so apparent in the finer specimens of maestro Giorgio’s work.

Although there can be little doubt that Castel Durante was one of the earliest sites of the manufacture of enamelled pottery in Italy, as well as one of the most fruitful not only of produce but of those potters who in their own city, and at other establishments founded by them in various parts of Italy, spread the fame of the Durantine wares and the Durantine artists throughout Europe, it is remarkable that so few pieces have descended to us, upon which the names of their authors are recorded, or of the “boteghe” in which they were produced. Long lists are given by Raffaelli and other writers, but to identify the works of their hands is generally denied us, from the absence of signed examples by which their style can be known.

From Castel Durante came the Pelliparii who on establishing themselves at the capital city of the duchy took the name of Fontana, to which is attached some of the greatest triumphs of their art. “Francesco,” the able painter who probably worked at Urbino and afterwards at Monte Bagnolo near Perugia, was as he styled himself “Durantino.” A new life seems to have been given to artistic pottery in Venice by the immigration of a Durantine artist Francesco del Vasaro in 1545; and even later in the history, when the independence of the duchy was oppressed and local patronage had waned, another potter, Mº Diomede Durante, tried his fortune at Rome. Others went to France, Flanders, and Corfu, spreading the art which attained important development at Nevers, at Lyons, and other French centres.

Castel Durante, which rose from the ruins of Castel Ripense in the thirteenth century, took the appellation of Urbania under the reign and in compliment to her native Pope, Urban VIII. It is now a small dull town on the banks of the Metauro, on the post-road from Urbino to Borgo San Sepolcro, and about thirteen Italian miles distant from the former city. The alluvial banks and deposits of the river furnished the material for her pottery.

Signor Raffaelli, in his valuable “Memorie,” surmises that the manufacture of glazed pottery, as an art, was introduced at the time when monsignor Durante built a “Castello” at the badia of St. Cristoforo at Cerreto on the Metauro, in 1284, as a place of security for the Guelphs. Seventy years afterwards in 1361 the then deceased maestro Giovanni dai Bistugi of Castel Durante is referred to, who probably was so named to distinguish him from the workers in glazed ware. This glazed ware was doubtless the ordinary lead glazed pottery or “mezza” ware, which preceded the use of that with stanniferous enamel and does not, as M. Darcel would suggest, afford any proof that the use of this enamel was known here before its application or stated discovery by Luca della Robbia. At that time even these lead glazed wares were little known, and it was not till 1300 that they seem to have become more generally adopted. Thenceforward their manufacture continued, for in 1364 a work is mentioned on the bank of the torrent Maltempo at “Pozzarelli,” perhaps so named from the pits dug for extracting the loam. The early wares were coarse, painted with coats of arms and half figures, the flesh being left white and the dress in gay colours. In 1500 both the “mezza” and the enamelled wares, as well as the “sgraffio” work, were made. The beautiful “amatoria” plate which we engrave was about this date, and shows the beginning of a style of decoration which afterwards prevailed in a more developed form at this fabrique. The manufacture was at its perfection about 1525 and 1530, and continued to produce good wares even till 1580. It would appear that the great artists only painted the more important subject of the piece, leaving the ornamentation to be finished by the pupils and assistants.

Piccolpasso informs us that the earth or loam gathered on the banks of the Metauro, near Castel Durante, is of superior quality for the manufacture of pottery. A variety called “celestrina” was used for making the seggers, “astucci,” when mixed with the “terra rossa;” but for the finer class of work the loam deposited by the river which when washed was called “bianco allattato,” and when of a blue shade of colour, was reserved for the more important pieces. The turnings of this variety mixed with the shavings of woollen cloth were used to attach the handles and other moulded ornaments, and was known as “barbatina.” The red pigment of Faenza, called “vergiliotto” was not used at Castel Durante. We presume this colour to be that ochreous red employed for heightening and shading the draperies, &c. by the painters of the Fontana fabrique at Urbino, and that of Lanfranco

at Pesaro, and some others; if so, the absence or presence of it would be useful as evidence in determining the origin of a piece.

Signor Raffaelli thinks that many of the wares generally known as of Urbino were so called from the province, and frequently included those which were really the produce of Castel Durante. Passeri also speaks in high commendation of the Durantine wares, and Pozzi states that it was the rival of and only second to Faenza in the quality of its productions. The fatal blow to this branch of industry was the death of the last duke, Francesco Maria II. in 1631, when there being no longer a court the trade declined, money became scarce, and the artists emigrated.

Of signed examples of the wares of Castel Durante, the earliest piece known is the beautiful bowl belonging to Mrs. H. T. Hope which was exhibited in the Loan collection. The ground of this piece is of an intense dark and rich blue, entirely covered with a decoration of grotesques, among which occurs a shield of arms of the Delia Rovere family surmounted by the papal tiara and the keys, proving it to have been made for pope Julius II.; trophies of books, festoons of drapery and, above, a boy angel holding a “veronica” or napkin impressed with the face of the Saviour. At the sides other trophies, satyrs, cupids, and interlaced foliage are richly and harmoniously disposed, among which are two labels inscribed respectively “Iv. II. Pon. Max.” and “Tu. es. sacerdos. i eter.” “In the design and execution of the painting,” says Mr. Robinson, in his catalogue of that famous collection, “splendour of colour, and perfection of enamel glaze, this magnificent piece is a triumph of the art.” On the same occasion Mr. Morland exhibited a piece by the same hand, and we think we recognize variations of the same manner in two examples now in the South Kensington museum, nos. 1728 and 1735.