Renaissance Ceramics

Early Arabe / Mudejar style tile with geometric decoration, made late 15th century.

Early Arista y cuenca tile made in Toledo. Tile decorated in renaissance with stylized flowers was probably made between 1550 and 1575.

Big Majolica vase Ginori Italy, 1850-1890 Very good codiction Difetto di cottura sotto la base (vedere fotografia)

Early Arista y cuenca tile made in Toledo. Tile decorated in renaissance with stylized flowers was probably made between 1550 and 1575.

Early Arista / border tile made in Toledo. Tile decorated in renaissance with stylized flowers was probably made between 1550 and 1575. Catalogue: La Azulejería Toledana a Través ...

Polychrome archaic majolica albarello, central Italy, 15th century Cylindrical body with wide upper mouth with everted rim, concave neck, and foot with flat base. Medium porous and...

Wonderful pottery wine cooler Hand painted decoration Factory mark on the underside ( not identified ) Condition commensurate with the age of the piece. A few minor chips seen in ...

Deruta majolica charger from the workshop of Serafino Volpi hand painted with the portrait of the prophet Zaccaria from Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel ...

Deruta majolica charger from the workshop of Serafino Volpi hand painted with the wide eyed curly haired head of an 'ignudo' figure wearing headband fr...

A stunning large antique Italian Raffaellesco majolica wall charger / centerpiece, showcasing exceptionally executed handmade and painted design, dating to the 19th century or earlie...

This wonderful Albarello was found in a palazzo in Naples and dates from the mid 1800s. It would once have been used for herbal remedies or spices but today makes for a wonderful dec...

Our ceramic plate "Mediterranean Nuances" is handmade and hand-painted in Italy: realized in majolica painted in polychrome, it is characterized by elegant decorative motifs of the Deruta tradition colored with different variations of blue and brown tones following the original Renaissance painting technique. The particular shape of this dish is traditionally called "a priest's hat". This majolica can be exposed as an centerpiece or it can be used as a fancy wall dish...

Bottega Vignoli, Borgia conical vase, 2022 hand painted majolica 17cm x 37cm height. Unique piece. Bottega Vignoli is a brand of artistic ceramics...

Majolica dish hand made and hand-painted in Deruta, Italy, according to the original Renaissance painting technique. The dish is enriched by the presence of four metamorphic dolphin-...

Acquareccia plate Patanazzi workshop Urbino, last quarter of the 16th century It measures diameter 17.12 in; foot diameter 11.53 in; height 1.88 in (43.5 cm; 29.3 cm; 4.8 cm). Weight State of conservation: wear and a few small minimal detachments of enamel, chipping on the raised areas, peeling of enamel at the brim on the back. This large, shallow basin is equipped with a wide and convex well. It is umbonate with a contoured center. The brim, short and flat, is enclosed in a double rounded and barely raised edge. The basin has a flat base without rims; it has a slightly concave center in correspondence to the well. The shape takes inspiration from the basins associated with the metal forged amphora pourers that traditionally adorned the credenza. These were used from the Middle Ages to wash hands during banquets. Two or three people washed their hands in the same basin and it was considered an honor to wash one’s hands with an illustrious person. The decoration is arranged in concentric bands with, in the center of the umbo, an unidentified shield on a blue background: an oval banded in gold with a blue head, a gold star and a field with a burning pitcher. Rings of faux pods separate the center from a series of grotesque motifs of small birds and masks. These go around the basin and are, in fact, faithfully repeated on the brim. The main decoration develops inside the flounce of the basin, which sees alternating symmetrical figures of winged harpies and chimeras. The ornamentation, outlined in orange, green and blue, stands out against the white enamel background. This decorative style, defined since the Renaissance as “grottesche” or “raffaellesche”, refers to the decorations introduced after the discovery of the paintings of the Domus Aurea towards the end of the fifteenth century. The discovery of Nero's palace, buried inside Colle Oppio by damnatio memoriae, occurred by chance when a young Roman, in 1480, fell into a large crack which had opened in the ground on the hill, thus finding himself in a cave with walls covered with painted figures. The great artists present in the papal city, including Pinturicchio, Ghirlandaio, Raffaello, immediately visited these caves. The decorations found there soon became a decorative subject of immense success: the term grotesque , with the meaning of “unusual,” “caricatured,” or “monstrous,” was later commented by Vasari in 1550 as “una spezie di pittura licenziose e ridicole molto”( “a very licentious and ridiculous kind of painting”). The decorations “a grottesche” also widely circulated in ceramic factories, through the use of engravings, variously interpreted according to the creativity of the artists or the requests of the client. Our basin is reflected in similar artifacts produced at the end of the sixteenth century by the factories of the Urbino district. See the series of basins preserved in the main French museums, among which the closest in morphology is that of the Campana collection of the Louvre (Inv. OA1496); this however has a more complex figure decoration, while the decoration of our specimen is sober and with a watercolor style. The style, sure in its execution, approaches decorative results still close to the works produced around the middle of the sixteenth century by the Fontana workshop. The decoration is closely linked to their taste, which later finds its natural outlet, through the work of Antonio, also in the Patanazzi workshop. Studies show the contiguity between the two workshops due to the kinship and collaboration between the masters Orazio Fontana and Antonio Patanazzi, both trained in the workshop of Guido Fontana il Durantino. It is therefore almost natural that their works, often created according to similar typologies and under the aegis of the same commissions, are not always easily distinguishable, so much so that the presence of historiated or “grottesche” works by Orazio is documented and preserved in Antonio Patanazzi's workshop. Given that the studies have always emphasized the collaboration between several hands in the context of the shops, it is known that the most ancient “grottesche” works thus far known, can be dated from 1560, when the Fontana shop created the so-called Servizio Spagnolo (Spanish Service) and how, from that moment on, this ornamentation became one of the most requested by high-ranking clients. We remember the works created for the Granduchi di Toscana, when Flaminio Fontana along with his uncle Orazio supplied ceramics to Florence, and, later, other commissions of considerable importance: those for the service of the Duchi d’Este or for the Messina Farmacia of Roccavaldina, associated with the Patanazzi workshop when, now after 1580, Antonio Patanazzi began to sign his own work. Thus, in our basin, the presence of masks hanging from garlands, a theme of more ancient memory, is associated in the work with more advanced stylistic motifs, such as the hatching of the chimeras and harpies. These are found here on the front with the wings painted in two ornate ways. In addition, the theme of the birds on the edge completes the decoration along the thin brim and can be seen as representing an early style typical of the Urbino district during a period of activity and collaboration between the two workshops. Later, a more “doll-like” decorative choice, typical of the end of the century and the beginning of the seventeenth century, characterized the period of the Patanazzi workshop under the direction of Francesco. Bibliography: Philippe Morel, Il funzionamento simbolico e la critica delle grottesche nella seconda metà del Cinquecento, in: Marcello Fagiolo, (a cura di), Roma e...

Massive Italian Majolica allegorical charger by A. Deruta Gorgeous continuous Italian Renaissance style decoration Ready to hang.

Maiolica plate (tondino) Urbino district, Casteldurante or Pesaro, 1533-1555 It measures: diam. 7.48 in (19 cm), foot diam. 2.75 in (7 cm), height 1.0...

A rare Dutch Majolica plate with a decoration of a tulip. Northern Netherlands, probably made in the city of Rotterdam. Made 1620 - 1640 Dutch majo...

A colorful jewel toned polychrome majolica platter decorated with various embossed fruits such as peaches, grapes, tomatoes, pears and various green foliage. It has been hand painted...

Victorian antique Majolica jardinière of the Four Seasons by Minton English, c. 1905 Measures: Height 39cm, diameter 32cm This charact...

"Toxic" hand painted ceramic plate "SegnalEtica" series by Pantoù Ceramics, hand thrown and hand painted glazed earthenware, Italian majolica. All uniq...

"Recycle" hand painted ceramic plate "SegnalEtica" series by Pantoù Ceramics, hand thrown and hand painted glazed earthenware. All unique pieces, Italy, 2019. Measure: 40 cm diameter...

French glazed earthenware bowl in the manner of Bernard Palissy. Bernard Palissy (1510-1590) was a French potter who created extravagant glazes on his rustic ceramics...

SHIPPING POLICY: No additional costs will be added to this order. Shipping costs will be totally covered by the seller (customs duties included). The centre painted with archaic de...

An extraordinary azure maiolica dish in the Farnese service, made by Castelli d'Abuzzo between 1580 and 1589. In the peak of the High Renaissance, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese commissioned a dinner service from the Castelli maiolica...

Very rare flemish pottery beer jug or stein…..depicting the Story of Susanna and dated 1584. The original jug has been attributed to Engel Kran…..a ...

From Italy, this majolica apothecary pitcher (orciuolo) is in the manner of the pitcher done by Castelli, circa 1520, housed in the MET Museum NYC,...

Crespina Faenza, last quarter of the 16th century Maiolica painted in two colors, light blue and yellow, on a thick, rich layer of white enamel. It measures 2.24 in (5.7 cm) in height, 6.10 in (15.5 cm) in diameter. lb 0.55 (kg 0.25) State of conservation: mimetic restoration. The small cup has a raised central “umbone”, a perforated brim and a shaped rim. It rests on a high jutting foot. The "crespina" shape, in some inventories is cited as "tacce de frute" (fruit cups). It was particularly appreciated in the Renaissance and has variants based on the formal types and the different sizes. The decoration, made according to the dictates of the “compendiario” style, used few standardized colors: blue and yellow on a thick white and shiny enamel, deliberately chosen as the colour which was most reminiscent of silver. This choice derived from a trend in creative design of the era: the shapes used in the molds were often taken from metal objects. An idea which would last throughout the Renaissance. The work shows, in the middle of the “umbone”, a winged putto stepping forward while playing a long thin trumpet. The depiction of the putto is fully representative of the repertoire of the Faenza workshops of the sixteenth century. Some specimens with this type of decoration have been published in a volume by Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti: there appears the whole productive repertoire of this fundamental moment of transition between the taste for the “istoriato” style and the great simplification of decoration in the “compendiario” period. This style, in its simplicity, however, saw its expression in a rather varied collection of decorative subjects, including old-fashioned busts...

Italian Maiolica "La Bella" Istoriato Lustered red water jug, 19th century. Maiolica: The fired, but still unglazed pottery is covered with a white tin gl...