Neoclassical Delft and Faience

Circa 1780 Delft blue & white chop plate. Central vase with flowers & fan of peacock feathers, surrounded by swirls & flowers. Yellow rim. Mark of "De Porceleyne Claeuw" factory. Fri...

Late 18th century Delft blue & white charger, Dutch. Large pomegranate flowering tree in central reserve with floral border. Rim frits typical for Delft. 13.75" dia. Whitehall Antiq...

Circa 1770 Delft polychrome plate. Very well decorated with central shaped medallion of a basket of flowers surrounded by 5 shaped panels of flowers baskets. Maker's mark en verso. 4...

Circa 1770 Delft polychrome low bowl or plate. Very well decorated with central shaped medallion of a basket of flowers surrounded by 5 shaped panels of flowers baskets. Rim chips & ...

18th Century Dutch delftware cabinet or collectors plate. Marked The gilt Flower Pot factory Hand crafted tin glazed earthenware pottery Fully handpain...

Antique Dutch Delft cabinet plate Material: Delft pottery, earthenware tin glazed Maker: The 3 Bells factory (1670- 1841), marked at the back Origin: The Netherlands, Delft 18...

Water cistern, table fountain on earthenware pedestal decorated with lambrequins and lions in blue camaieu. Lateral grip in the shape of a lion's head. Earthenware from Rouen or Lill...

Meissen charger with decoration a flower Bunches, Marcolini period Ca. 1800 This large Meissen Charger is decorated with a stylized bouquets of flower...

Wonderful Dutch 18th century tile painting of a cat with holding a mouse in it's mouth. Depicted right after the catch, with paw lifted showing expos...

A rare Dutch polychrome tile picture, painted in blue, green, yellow and manganese, depicting a mantel clock with two cupids. The tiles with authentic hand-painted black numbers F1-F...

Assortment of 4 dishes with braided rim Antonio Ferretti Manufacture Lodi, circa 1770-1780 Maiolica polychrome decorated “a piccolo fuoco” (third fire). Measures: 14 x 10 in (35.5 x 25.5 cm); 12.2 x 8.39 in (31 x 21.3 cm); 10.4 x 9.65 in (26.5 x 24.5 cm); 10.8 x 9.61 in (27.5 x 24.4 cm). Weight: 4.4 lb (1.998 kg) State of conservation: some chips due to use on the edges and on the parts in relief. The four different dishes have a foot with a low lip from which extends a wide, flat, slanted rim resembling a basket weave. The small handles are painted green: they resemble wickerwork in the two oval dishes and take the form of a sinuous branch in the round ones. The third fire decoration is inspired by the naturalistic floral botanical patterns on the ceramics produced by the Hannong family in Strasbourg. Here the pattern is defined by the rapidity and subtlety of the brushstrokes and the result is particularly tasteful, characterized by compositional intelligence and pictorial expertise. A main corolla, either a wild or garden rose, is set slightly off center in each well. From this extends a thin stem holding a small secondary bud and there are small field florets dotting the composition to lend volume to the delicate bunch of flowers. On the brim, small polychrome flowers add color to the weave, accompanied by lanceolate leaves of a very intense green. There exist few and very rare examples for comparison with this morphology: a round plate - entirely consistent with those in question - has been dated to around 1775 (S. Levy, Maioliche settecentesche lombarde e venete, Milano 1962, tav. 200). Two other dishes with a basket rim, but with parallel striped brim decoration, were exhibited in the 1995 exhibition on Lodi ceramics; the attribution to the Lombard town near Milan is therefore almost exclusively derived from the decoration called "alla rosa contornata" or "alla vecchia Lodi" and constitutes one of the most popular decorations during the eighteenth century. (M. L. Gelmini, in Maioliche lodigiane del '700 (cat. mostra Lodi), Milano 1995, pp. 31 p. 162-163 nn. 181-182). 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...

A rare faience topped Rörstrand tea table. The dished, moulded and shaped rectangular top decorated with a harbour szene painted in shades of grey (grisaille painting), on an elegant...