In 1762, Antonibon submitted specimens of his porcelain to the Board of Trade, and petitioned that the patent rights which had been conceded to Hewelcke should be extended to him. At that time, the report states, Antonibon had at Nove a manufactory, rich in buildings, machinery, and tools. The capital embarked in it was estimated at 80,000 ducats, and so great was the sale of his products that he gave employment to 150 men and their families, in addition to 100 people employed in his retail business, carried on at his three shops in Venice. This extensive manufactory was, however, principally for maiolica.
Fig. 120.—Jardinière.
By Antonibon.
On the 7th April 1763, a decree was made in his favour; and he appears to have set earnestly to work in his manufacture of porcelain. His competitor, Hewelcke, shortly after deserted Venice; but he had a more formidable rival in Giminiano Cozzi, who obtained a decree for making porcelain in 1765, in which Pasqual Antonibon’s manufacture is noticed, the Senate declaring it to be the duty of the magistrate to make such arrangements as would lead to an amicable understanding between the rival manufacturers and their workmen.
Fig. 121.—Vase.
Pasqual Antonibon and his son Giovanni Battista continued the fabrication of porcelain until the 6th February 1781, when they entered into partnership with Signor Parolini. The same manufacture, con sommo onore dell’arte, was continued by them until the 6th February 1802, when it was leased to Giovanni Baroni, who produced some very charming pieces both in form and decoration; but in a few years, from being badly conducted, it began to fall off, and by degrees it went to decay and was abandoned. The “Fabbrica Baroni,” however, lingered on for more than twenty years.
Fig. 122.—Vase.
