Mr. Barker had a plate, from the Delsette collection, subject the story of Alexander and Roxana, on which is inscribed “Leochadius Solobrinus picsit forolivia mece 1555;” and in the museum at Bologna is a basin on which is painted a representation of the supper at which Mary Magdalene washes Jesus’ feet; on the back it is signed by the same artist, with the date 1564. This is the latest signed and dated piece of the fabrique with which we are acquainted.
Potteries are said to have been established at Bologna and Imola, and pieces have been ascribed to them. A plate is in a French collection, well painted and of about the year 1500, which has the name of Ravenna on the reverse.
Passing to the northern duchies of Italy we find that Alfonso I., duke of Ferrara, found means, notwithstanding his troubled and warlike rule, to establish a fabrique of Maiolica at his castle in Ferrara. Although the precise period of the introduction of the art is unknown, as early as 1436 the name of “Maestro Benedetto bocalaro in Castello” is recorded; in 1472 one Enrico, and in 1489 Gio. da Modena, are named; while in a memoriale of expenses in 1443 occurs the first mention of painted and glazed wares. A curious document in the archives of Mantua, dated 1494, tells us that Isabella (d’Este), wife of the marquis of Mantua (Gonzaga), had sent a plate which had been broken into three pieces to be repaired at Ferrara by the Maestri working at the castle; this was done, and the mended plate returned at the desire of the duchess of Ferrara with another as a present.
From 1506 to 1522 the artistic works seem to have been discontinued, probably on account of the wars in which the duke was engaged: and from 1534 to 1559, during the reign of Ercole II., the work does not seem to have been encouraged. Pietro-Paolo Stanghi of Faenza is the only artist recorded, having made the ornaments to a stove in the castle; but Alfonso II. took more interest in the manufacture, and Vasari speaks of the fine productions of his furnaces. Nearly half a century then passed away before we hear of fresh experiments in the production of porcelain directed by Mº. Camillo, of Urbino, assisted by his brother Battista, and which seem to have resulted in success. When injured by the accidental explosion of a cannon, which ultimately caused his death and that of three gentlemen in 1567, he kept the secret, refusing to divulge it. This event is mentioned by Bernardo Canigiani, the ambassador of the Florentine court, who speaks of Camillo da Urbino as a maker of vases, painter, and chemist, and the true modern discoverer of porcelain, “Ritrovatore moderno alla porcellana.” It would seem, however, that his brother, Battista, must have known something of the process, which he may have been able to perfect by experiments, for it appears that between 1568 and 1569 the work was continued, as on the 17th December of the latter year an entry is made of an unusual allowance of wine for a workman engaged in preparing the ingredients “per far porcellani.” The cruet or vase, here engraved, is of about this period; it is at South Kensington, no. 505.
It is greatly to be regretted that we have at present no clue by which we can, even with probability, attribute any of the examples of maiolica in our collections to the earlier works of the Faentine artists produced under Alfonso I. at Ferrara; the more so as both under his reign and under that of Alfonso II. the fabrique was conducted, not with a view to profit or commercial enterprise, but simply from princely magnificence and a love of art. The produce was for their own use, and for presents among friends, but not for sale; we may therefore conclude that it was of highly artistic and great technical excellence. This was exceptional among the potteries of that period in Italy, most of which were commercial undertakings, more or less patronized and encouraged by the ruling families of their several localities. Some Ferrarese pieces have doubtless been preserved, and are probably now classed among those of Faenza with which they must have a great affinity.
It is not till 1579, when the art was in decline and when the Urbino style of ornamentation prevailed, that, on the occasion of the marriage of Alfonso II., it is believed that a credenza was made, the pieces of which are to be recognized by bearing the device of a burning pyre with the motto “Ardet æternum.” The pieces of this service have a distinctive character of their own, and although their connection with Ferrara may be merely one of ownership and not of origin, we think it well to class them under that head because we have no other standard to which we can attach all that is known of the history of that princely botega, and because these pieces have, in default of positive evidence to the contrary, been accepted as Ferrarese. They are remarkable for the purity of the white enamel ground; the grotesques are by another hand than those on pieces universally believed to be of the later period of Urbino or of Pesaro, but they are not easily distinguished without examination of the specimens side by side. Two pieces are in the Louvre, two others are at South Kensington.
Alfonso II. died in 1597, after which the dukedom was absorbed into the States of the Church. The Este removed to Modena, to which place the contents of the palace at Ferrara were carried, including the old maiolica, some of which is mentioned in inventories of the seventeenth century. A few pieces which escaped destruction during the French invasion of Italy were gathered from neglected corners of the palace, and placed in the public gallery of Modena in 1859.