“Maestro Giorgio was an artist by profession, not only as a draughtsman, but as a modeler; and, being familiar with the enameled terra-cottas of Luca della Robbia, is said to have executed with his own hands and in their manner large altar-pieces. We were once disposed to think that great confusion existed in respect to these altar-pieces in rilievo, and were inclined to the belief that, although some of the smaller lustred-works may have been modeled by Giorgio, the larger altar-pieces were really only imported by him. Judging from the most important which we have been able to examine, the ‘Madonna del Rosario,’ portions of which are in the museum at Frankfort-on-the-Main, it seemed to approach more nearly to the work of some member of the Della Robbia family. This fine work is in part glazed, and in part colored in distemper on the unglazed terra-cotta, in which respect it precisely agrees with works known to have been executed by Andrea della Robbia, assisted by his sons. There are no signs of the application of the lustre-colors to any portion of the work, but this might be accounted for by the great risk of failure in the firing, particularly to pieces of such large size and in high-relief. Be this as it may, from a further consideration of the style of this work and the record of others, some of which are heightened with the lustre-colors, and the fact stated by the Marchese Brancaleoni that a receipt for an altar-piece is still preserved in the archives of Gubbio, we are inclined to think that history must be correct in attributing these important works in ceramic sculpture to Maestro Giorgio Andreoli. If they were his unassisted work, he deserves as high a place among the modelers of his period as he is acknowledged to have among artistic potters.
“Maestro Giorgio’s manner of decoration consists of foliated scrolls and other ornaments terminating in dolphins, eagles, and human heads, trophies, masks, etc.; in the drawing of which he exhibited considerable power, with great facility of invention. These ‘grotesche’ differ materially from those of Urbino and Faenza, approaching more to the style of some of the Castel-Durante designs. In the drawing of figures, and of the nude, Giorgio cannot be ranked as an artist of the first class. From 1519 his signature, greatly varied, occurs through succeeding years. It would be useless to repeat the many varieties, several of which will be seen in the large catalogue and among the marks on specimens in other collections. We believe that to whim or accident may be ascribed those changes that have tasked the ingenuity of connoisseurs to read as other names. His finer and more important pieces were generally signed in full, ‘Maestro Giorgio da Ugubio,’ with the year, and sometimes the day of the month.”
It may be said that the secret of this ruby-lustre was soon lost, and has not been fully recovered; although admirable pieces are now made in England.
It is impossible to convey in any engraving the subtile beauty imparted by these lustres; it seems to me that this is by far the finest and most fascinating quality of the maiolicas.
Of the work made at Castel-Durante but little need be said in addition to what has been written upon the general subject of Italian maiolica.
This was a small town in the neighborhood of Urbino; which town since then has been dignified with the name of Urbania, after Pope Urban VIII.
At Castel-Durante pottery was made long before it reached the name and fame of maiolica. Through a book left by a potter of the place, named Piccolpasso, it is perhaps better known than by the maiolica made there. This manuscript book, which he illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings, gives some account of the wares produced there. I believe the book is now the property of the Kensington Museum at London. There are some few signed examples of the maiolica of Castel-Durante in the collections of England and of the Continent. I know of none in the United States. Of a piece owned by Mrs. H. T. Hope, of England, Mr. Robinson says in his enthusiastic way, “In the design and execution of the painting, splendor of color, and perfection of enamel-glaze, this magnificent piece is a triumph of the art.”
The ware made here is said to be recognized by “a pale buff-colored paste, and great richness and purity of the glaze.” Still none but an expert—a person who has made these productions a study—could distinguish them from those made at some other Italian factories.
Faenza.—Under the name of Faenza, an old town of Roman Italy, all sorts of waifs and strays which have no other home are likely to be classed. Its productions have no such peculiarities as mark those of Urbino, Gubbio, and some other Italian “botegas.” But for the antiquity and extent of its potteries, and also because it seems to have given the name “faience” to all earthen-ware pottery made in France, it has a certain importance. I therefore give a single extract from what Mr. Fortnum has written about it. As there are a considerable number of these druggist’s pots (see Fig. 64) in this country, the matter may be of interest. He writes:
“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, etc., 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.