FLORENTINE (or Medicean) Porcelain.—In the time of the 1700’s, after the discovery of kaolin in Saxony, kings and princes were eager to signalize themselves by establishing porcelain-works in their states, and upon these they spent much money. It has come to light within a few years that the merchant-princes of the house of Medici enlisted in the same cause, and were the first to establish a porcelain-factory in Europe; this discovery, made by Dr. Foresi, of Florence, has been confirmed by various others. The question only is, “Is it porcelain?” Mr. J. C. Robinson, a distinguished English writer, says:
“A discovery of some curiosity and interest in connection with the history of the manufacture of porcelain in Southern Europe has recently been made by the acumen of Dr. Foresi, of Florence, and which has the effect of antedating the manufacture by at least a century. Before this discovery the fabrique at St.-Cloud, in France, was the earliest that could be authenticated. This was about the year 1695; but the facts now brought forward prove the existence of a factory for the manufacture of a true porcelain at Florence, under the patronage of the Grand-duke Francis I., about the years 1580 to 1590. For some time the doctor had observed a peculiar ancient porcelain of a fine body and glaze, and covered with an arabesque ornament in blue, which, while it generally resembled Oriental porcelain, showed unmistakable features of European design. It was also marked in a peculiar manner, and, as one mark consisted of the well-known pellets of the Medici family arms, he was induced to search the records of the house, and, to his surprise, found—what had been overlooked by all historians of the potter’s art—that the duke above named had attached to his well-known laboratory in the Boboli Gardens a small manufactory of porcelain. By continuing his researches he at last exhumed a manuscript from the Magliabecchian Library, which had been compiled by some person employed by the duke, and which also detailed the facts connected with the composition of the ware.”
This manufacture continued from 1575 to 1587.
The Medici.—The history of this remarkable family of the Medici can never fail to interest. Roscoe has presented it well in his “Life of Lorenzo the Magnificent,” etc. The origin of the family is very vague; but the fact is well known that the founder of its greatness was Giovanni de’ Medici (he died 1429), who, instead of grasping states and principalities with one hand, while the other held the glittering sword, as had for so long a time been the fashion, seized upon the great trade which then had sprung up between the Occident and the Orient, and which became vast and profitable in the hands of the merchants of Florence, Genoa, and Venice.
This trade poured ducats into his coffers like the flow of a river, and when he died he left vast stores of gold to his sons Cosmo and Lorenzo.
Cosmo, instead of degenerating into a “rich man’s son,” went on with the work which his father had begun; but he conducted it as a great man should, not as a great miser would. This was true of his successors, who continued to be merchants and bankers, even after they had come to be grand-dukes and rulers of the Florentine state. This wealth was used, of course, to push their own fortunes and ambitions, but it was used in a ducal way, not only in the building of palaces and galleries, but in the encouragement of the arts and of letters, all of which increased his own glory, while it ministered to the magnificence of the state. The Medici had ceased to be merchants long before the time of Francis, but it is easy to believe that the traditions of his family ran in his veins, and that he should have been ready to attempt the production of porcelain in his city, when the love for it and the desire for it had grown to be an influence in Europe, as it had in the seventeenth century. Nineteen specimens only are known of this earliest porcelain, and these are in the hands of museums and of private collectors. Examples may be seen in the Sèvres and Kensington Museums.
It seems that the best quality was made for the family of the founder, and this bears the mark of six pellets, each with a letter and one with a fleur-de-lis. These letters, F. M. M. E. D. II., mean Franciscus Medici Magnus Etruriæ Dux Secundus.
