Clay Ceramics

This is a highly decorative, ironstone, twin handled circular footed Bowl by John Ridgway, dating to the English William 1Vth period, circa 1835 . The bowl has been carefully hand-painted in bold colorful enamels with a chinoiserie pattern of three oriental people travelling on a boat, pattern number 5057. It is also richly hand gilded. John Ridgway operated at his father’s celebrated Cauldon Place works, Shelton, Hanley, England, between 1830-1856, producing some fine porcelain and stone China of excellent quality. His stone China earthenwares and ironstone wares are discussed on page 305 of Godden's Guide to Ironstone, Stone and Granite Wares written by Geoffrey Godden for the Antique Collectors Club. This piece is fully marked to the base with an Imperial Stone China...

This is a very decorative dish or plate by Mason's Ironstone, Lane Delph, England in the Bamboo and Basket pattern, dating to the early 19th century, Georgian period, circa 1813-1820...

Rare antique English Yorkshire or Staffordshire creamware pierced basket with intricate reticulated body. Lovely color no damage or repairs.

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...

Wedgwood made this drabware sugar bowl and stand in Staffordshire, England, in the first quarter of the 19th century, circa 1825. The design is simple and elegant, and the decoratio...

These are a matching PAIR of Ironstone pottery mugs made by the Mason's factory at Lane Delph, Staffordshire, England and is decorated in the Chines...

One of Wedgwood’s most acclaimed “useful wares,” this fine jasper-dip pierced orange basket displays a brilliant cobalt blue and white checkerboard patte...

Made in England by Job Ridgway 1802-1808, this incredibly rare oval-shaped Drabware dish shows a hawk perched on a log. The image is crisp. According to the online Ridgway pattern bo...

Decorate a tabletop with this colorful, majolica basket composition. Crafted in France circa 1960, the centerpiece features a realistic assortment of fruits and vegetables in high re...

Two pairs of maiolica baskets Antonio Ferretti Manufacture Lodi, circa 1770-1790 Maiolica polychrome decorated “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire). Measures: A) Height 3.54 x 6.69 x 9.84 in (9 x 17 x 25 cm); B) Height 3.93 x 7.48 x 11.02 in (10 x 19 x 28 cm). Total weight 4.85 lb (2.200 kg) State of conservation: A) One of the smaller baskets has some areas of restoration, the other slight chipping from use; B) One of the larger baskets is intact and the other shows a clearly glued break. The mold with which the baskets were forged simulates a wicker weave. The two larger works have high, vertical walls, with branch-shaped handles penetrating the weave. The painted decorations, small polychrome flowers applied only externally, highlight the points where the weaves intersect. The decision to leave the center of the basket devoid of decoration is highly unusual, but given the size and complexity of the shape, as well as the quality of the enamel, it is possible to hypothesize that it represents a precise choice in manufacturing or for a particular client. The two smaller baskets have small, twisted handles and, on the outside, reproduce more decisively the characteristic wicker weave, obtained through thin molded lines. The interior exhibits a rich, typical decoration of naturalistic flowers: a bunch centered around a main flower and secondary stems accompanied by small “semis”. The exterior of these works is also adorned with small little flowers where the weaves intersect. The size and morphological characteristics of the baskets confirm their attribution to the Lodi factory of Antonio Ferretti between 1770 and 1790, during its most successful period; by this point his original reworking of the "Strasbourg" decoration, known as "old Lodi", had achieved great fame even outside Italy. This decorative choice represented a strong point of the Lodi factory, which established itself thanks to the vivid nature of the colors made possible by the introduction of a new technique perfected by Paul Hannong in Strasbourg and which Antonio Ferretti introduced in Italy. This production process, called “piccolo fuoco” (third fire), allowed the use of a greater number of colors than in the past; in particular, the purple of Cassius, a red made from gold chloride, was introduced. Its use allowed for many more tones and shades, from pink to purple. The Ferretti family had started their maiolica manufacturing business in Lodi in 1725. The forefather Simpliciano had started the business by purchasing an ancient furnace in 1725 and, indeed, we have evidence of the full activity of the furnaces from April of the same year (Novasconi-Ferrari-Corvi, 1964, p. 26 n. 4). Simpliciano had started a production of excellence also thanks to the ownership of clay quarries in Stradella, not far from Pavia. The production was so successful that in 1726 a decree of the Turin Chamber came to prohibit the importation of foreign ceramics, especially from Lodi, to protect internal production (G. Lise, La ceramica a Lodi, Lodi 1981, p. 59). In its initial stages, the manufacture produced maolicas painted with the “a gran fuoco” (double fire) technique, often in turquoise monochrome, with ornamentation derived from compositional modules in vogue in Rouen in France. This was also thanks to the collaboration of painters like Giorgio Giacinto Rossetti, who placed his name on the best specimens next to the initials of the factory. In 1748 Simpliciano made his will (Gelmini, 1995, p. 30) appointing his son Giuseppe Antonio (known as Antonio) as universal heir. After 1750, when Simpliciano passed away, Antonio was directly involved in the maiolica factory, increasing its fortunes and achieving a reputation on a European level. Particularly important was the aforementioned introduction in 1760 of the innovative “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire) processing, which, expanding the ornamental repertoire with Saxon-inspired floral themes, could commercially compete with the German porcelains that had one of its most renowned offerings in the naturalistic Deutsche Blumen. Antonio Ferretti understood and promoted this technique and this decoration, proposing it in a fresher and more corrective version, less linked to botanical tables...

Rare & Important Antique English Large Wedgwood Queensware (Creamware) Centerpiece with influences by Robert Adam represented by the swags and fest...

This is a very good early Mason's ironstone pottery soup bowl or deep plate hand painted in the Fence, Blue Leaf & Lilac pattern, produced by the Mason's factory at Lane Delph, Staf...