Majolica Furniture
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Material: Majolica
Byzantium Vase Hand Painted Ceramic Italy Contemporary 21st Century Majoilica
Located in London, GB
Byzantium Vase 2024, full-fire reduction faience earthenware (majolica) 28 cm diameter x 36 cm height hand painted unique piece.
Bottega Vignoli is a brand of artistic ceramics ba...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Classical Roman Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Earthenware, Majolica
19th Century French St. Clement Basketweave and Rope Oyster Platter
Located in Birmingham, AL
A stunning example of 19th century French craftsmanship, this majolica glazed oyster master server platter was produced by the renowned faïencerie of St. Clément, circa 1890s. Design...
Category
19th Century French Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
A Majolica Grape-Form Wine Jug by Brown-Westhead, Moore, English, ca. 1876
Located in Banner Elk, NC
T. C. Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co. Majolica Wine Jug is molded as bunches of purple-glazed grapes with grape leaves and vines on a raised base of crisscrossed branches and branch hand...
Category
19th Century English Victorian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
A Wedgwood Majolica Dragon Jug, Designed by Hughes Protât and Dated 1878
By Wedgwood
Located in Banner Elk, NC
A Majolica Dragon Jug designed by Hugues Protât (French, 1835-1871) for Wedgwood, the ovoid-form jug glazed in cobalt blue with a brightly glazed drago...
Category
19th Century English Victorian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
19th Century Large Majolica Rooster with Bamboo Vase Delphin Massier
Located in Austin, TX
Large Majolica colorful rooster signed Delphin Massier circa 1890.
On the back of the rooster, a rare brown bamboo vase, usually the vase is a trunk.
Category
1890s French Victorian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
Majolica Iris Jardiniere Delphin Massier, circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica oval jardiniere attributed to Delphin Massier, circa 1890.
The Massier family are known for the quality of their unique enamels and paintings. They produced an incre...
Category
1890s French Art Nouveau Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
Vallauris Majolica Ceramic Extra Large Leaf Platter/ Centerpiece Bowl
By Vallauris
Located in Barcelona, ES
Eye-catching extra large leaf shaped glazed ceramic platter, serving tray or centerpiece manufactured by Vallauris. France, 1950-1960s.
Interesting to be used as decorative centerpie...
Category
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Pottery, Majolica
German Majolica Figural Rooster by Riedel Von Riedelstein, Dallwitz, ca. 1885
Located in Banner Elk, NC
Majolica Figural Rooster, naturalistically modeled as an alert cockerel, the feathers with mottled gold, brown and blue glazes, the comb and wattle glazed in pink and red, on an oval...
Category
19th Century German Victorian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
French Majolica White Rose Vase Circa 1900
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica White Rose Vase Circa 1900.
H / 6.5 inches.
Category
Early 1900s French Art Nouveau Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
Majolica Garden Figure Exotic Parrot Bird Figure
Located in München, Bavaria
This hand-crafted and hand painted majolica parrot is made in the studios of the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory in Munich, Germany. They create handmade figures in majolica techni...
Category
2010s German Mid-Century Modern Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
$21,140 / set
Set of 6 Asparagus Ceramic Plates, Tureen and Salt Pepper Shakers, Spain 1960s
Located in Barcelona, ES
Eye-catching Mid-Century Modern asparagus design glazed ceramic serving set, Spain, 1950s-1960s
A set of 6 asparagus plates, a server with lid and a salt and pepper shakers set.
The asparagus tureen...
Category
Mid-20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica, Pottery, Ceramic
Large Majolica Leaping Fish Glug Jug/Pitcher
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
European/Continental Majolica jug/pitcher which features a leaping fish, mouth wide open, on a bed
of leaves. Colouration: grey, green, yellow, are predominant.
Category
1890s Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
Antique Majolica Ceramic Cheese Keeper by George Jones
By George Jones
Located in London, GB
Antique Majolica ceramic cheese keeper by George Jones
English, circa 1870
Measures: Height 30cm, width 23cm, depth 23cm
This delightful cheese kee...
Category
Late 19th Century English Victorian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
Majolica Fruits Basket Sarreguemines, circa 1900
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica trompe l'oeil basket with fruits signed Sarreguemines, circa 1900.
Category
Early 1900s French Country Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
Fratelli Fanciullacci Majolica Bowl with Handle, Italy Mid Century
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Rare vintage bowl is decorated with hand painted stylized flowers and leaves decor. The bowl features asymmetrical hand-formed rim and small figurative handle in shape of a leaf. Th...
Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Pottery, Majolica
Antique Frie Onnaing Satirical French Majolica Drunken Soldier Toby Pitcher
By Frie Onnaing
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine, figural French toby pitcher.
By Frie Onnaing.
In polychrome decorated majolica.
In the form of a drunken soldier sitting astride a wine barre...
Category
Late 19th Century French Belle Époque Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
French Wide Majolica Vegetable Serving Platter
Located in LA CIOTAT, FR
An attractive and unusual vintage serving platter, embellished with a central divider of beautifully crafted and hand-painted garden vegetables. A raised, embossed and painted green ...
Category
20th Century French Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
Large School of Paris Palissy Majolica Wall Platter With Snake And Fish
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
School of Paris French Palissy Majolica wall platter which features fish (a carp, a pike), a snake, a frog, langoustines, insects and shells. Rippled water-effect ground. Colouration...
Category
1880s Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
19th Century French Onnaing Majolica Pig Waiter Pitcher
By Onnaing
Located in Pearland, TX
A superb antique French majolica barbotine pig waiter pitcher by Onnaing, circa 1880. This delightful pitcher is designed as the "maitre d'hotel" or butler pig ready to serve, hand p...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
Gaetano BATTAGLIA (Naples-Italy-Active 1850 and 1885) Pair of Large Plates
Located in Madrid, ES
Pair of Large Plates
Gaetano Battaglia 19th century
made of earthenware decorated with mythological scenes Italy (Naples)
Diameter 50 cm
good cond...
Category
19th Century Italian Rococo Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
Antique 19th Century Majolica Porcelain Gurgle Gluggle Fish Pitcher Jug 11"
Located in Dayton, OH
Antique 19th century English majolica porcelain gluggle jug / gurgling fish pitcher. In the shape of a black fish with wide open mouth, balanced upright with tail curved into the han...
Category
19th Century Victorian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
$440 Sale Price
20% Off
19th Century French Painted Ceramic Barbotine Monk Pitcher from Onnaing
By Onnaing
Located in Dallas, TX
Decorate a wet bar with this charming, sculptural Majolica pitcher; crafted by Onnaing circa 1890, the antique, barbotine jug features a smiling monk wit...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
19th Century Red Glazed Jardiniere With Lion Head Masks
Located in Dublin 8, IE
19th Century Jardiniere with lion head masks and garland detailing decorated with blended rich red majolica glaze.
Category
19th Century Irish Neoclassical Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
19th Century Majolica Grapes Wall Platter Fives Lille
By Fives-Lille
Located in Austin, TX
19th century French Majolica grapesplatter in high relief, Fives Lille unsigned.
At the end of the 19th century, Longchamp and Fives Lille produced fruits platters of all kinds more...
Category
1880s French Country Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
Vallauris Multicolor Ceramic Fat Lava Round Bowl or Ashtray
By Vallauris
Located in Barcelona, ES
Large Mid-Century Vallauris ashtray / bowl in multicolor glazed ceramic.
Beautiful fat lava glazed ceramic ashtray in brown, pink purple and red colors. Manufactured by Vallauris. France, 1950s.
This cool ashtray was handcrafted in France at the Mid-20th century period. Hand-crafted piece in shades of orange red, pink purple, ochre and green ceramic on a brown background with fat lava effect. It has four cigarrette or cigars holders.
Highly decorative piece!
This colorful piece will be the perfect gift for smokers. Also useful as jewelry bowl , decorative bowl or vide-poche.
Overall Measures: 19 cm diameter x 9 cm height (7,48 in diameter x 3,54 in height).
Vallauris Ceramic Round Bowl // Glazed Ceramic Fat Lava Bowl...
Category
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
White 3D Printed Ceramic Sculptural Vase Italy Contemporary, 21st Century
Located in London, GB
"Composizione 40100 #02" (In crescendo), 2019, glazed earthenware, measures: H 47 x 30 x 30cm
Andrea Salvatori (Italy, 1975) is an internationally renowned visual artist working with the ceramic medium to realize often ironic and witty sculptures, sometimes involving a diverse selection of found objects, such as Murano glass vases, Meissen Porcelain miniatures or Ginori period ceramics sourced in flea markets around Europe. Salvatori’s works often begin with these items and proceed by the addition of elements masterfully created by the artist, generating an unexpected semantic shift. The result is unique, encompassing pop culture and kitsch aesthetics: a witty and effective way to turn reality upside-down and at the same time a powerful combination of exquisite craftsmanship and genuine irony.
Andrea Salvatori was born on 3 of March 1975 in Faenza (Ra), Italy; he has graduated at the Istituto d’arte for Ceramic in Faenza in 1995, and he then graduated with a Degree in Sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Bologna in 2000. During his studies, Andrea learned the secrets of ceramics from the creative duo Bertozzi & Casoni having worked as an apprentice in their studio for many years at the same way as during Renaissance artists learned their practice with their Masters. Since 1997 he had several individual and collective exhibitions. In 2009 he won the first prize at the 56th edition of the prestigious Premio Faenza, the International Contest of Contemporary Art Ceramics, for which he classified second in the prior edition. In 2011 he classified second at the Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica, Ceramic
$10,675 Sale Price
20% Off
Pair of 19th Century French Hand Painted Ceramic Barbotine Vases
Located in Dallas, TX
Place this large and unique pair of antique Majolica vases on a console or shelf. Crafted in France, circa 1880, the colorful ceramic planters...
Category
Early 20th Century French Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
Rare Majolica Penguin With Suit Mustard Pot Sarreguemines circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
Rare Majolica Penguin With Suit Mustard Pot Sarreguemines circa 1890.
Category
1890s French Rustic Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica, Ceramic
19th Century Majolica Asparagus Plate
By Salins
Located in Paris, FR
This 19th century Majolica asparagus hand painted plate was made in France. This Majolica dish is in the style of the Salins-les-Bains Craft.
Category
19th Century French Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
$144 / item
19th Century Faience Violets Platter Hippolyte Boulenger Choisy Le Roi
Located in Austin, TX
Large 19th Century Faience Violets Platter signed Hippolyte Boulenger Choisy Le Roi.
17.5 by 13 inches.
Category
1880s French Rustic Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
Talavera Jar Decorative Vase Folk Art Vessel Mexican Ceramic Black White Modern
By Cesar
Located in Queretaro, Queretaro
Elegant black and white jar made with the authentic Talavera technique. Master artisan, Cesar Torres portraits the colonial art of Mexico while cre...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Spanish Colonial Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Clay, Majolica
Rubboli Lustre Majolica Vase with Mythical Beasts Decor
By Rubboli
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Sculptural, large ceramic Neo-Renaissance Rubboli vase is finished in cobalt, red and gold lustre. Hand-painted decor follows the classical shape of the piece, with abstract pattern accentuated the base and the top of the vase, and traditional designs of mythical beasts surrounding central medallion motifs.
The vase is a stunning, museum quality example of the revival of the magnificent Italian Renaissance decoration of the 16th century. Late 19th century collecting craze for Renaissance majolica, especially lusterware, prompted the Italian potters to hunt for the secret formulas that were lost four hundred years earlier. Studios owned by such ceramicists as Cantagalli, Molaroni, Rubboli, Santarella, and others attempted to duplicate antique lusterware pieces for the general public. Each studio developed their own closely guarded formulation.
In 1870s Paolo Rubboli...
Category
20th Century Italian Renaissance Revival Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica, Pottery
$1,020 Sale Price
20% Off
Victorian Majolica Gustavsberg Pitcher, Sweden, late 19th-C
By Gustavsberg
Located in Valencia, VC
Early Gustavsberg Victorian Majolica Pitcher – Cobalt Relief on Ivory Crackle Glaze
This early Gustavsberg Victorian majolica pitcher is a fine example of 19th-century Scandinavian ...
Category
Late 19th Century Swedish Victorian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica, Porcelain, Stoneware
$315 Sale Price
30% Off
Small Majolica Palissy Fish Wall Platter Circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
Small 19th Century round Palissy fish platter attributed to Thomas Sergent.
decorated with a fish on the center ,a snail, a snake, a butterfly , bugs and leaves.
4 inches diameter.
T...
Category
1890s French Victorian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica, Ceramic
Majolica Pitcher George Jones circa 1900, France
By George Jones
Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR
George Jones water lily pitcher. Designed with large green leaves, water lily flowers. The top neck with handle circa 1900.
Category
Early 1900s French Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
$336 Sale Price
20% Off
Early 20th Century French Painted Ceramic Barbotine Figure Pitcher by Onnaing
By Onnaing
Located in Dallas, TX
This large Majolica water pitcher with back handle was crafted by Onnaing in Northern France, circa 1910. The colorful pitcher depicts the French collector assessor Camille Pelletan, sited on a sign which reads "Reforme Urgente". The antique ceramic jar...
Category
Early 20th Century French Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
Wedgwood Tazza Very Decorative with 3 Dolphins Stand, 19th Century
By Wedgwood
Located in Paris, FR
This Wedgwood tazza is decorative Delphin is a brightly decorated compote presented as a large clamshell mounted on three dolphins on a three-point bas...
Category
1860s British Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
$840 Sale Price
20% Off
French Saint Clément Majolica Green & Yellow Lemon Wedge Oyster Plate, c. 1930
Located in Pearland, TX
A lovely antique French majolica oyster plate made at the St. Clement faience factory in France, circa 1920-1930. Maker's mark on reverse. This gorgeous oyster plate has six wells wi...
Category
Early 20th Century French Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
Planter Sign: Phoenix Wake Made in England T.F & S.L TD (Thomas Forrester )
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
Sign: Phoenix Wake Made in England T.F & S.L TD (Thomas Forrester and sons).
Thomas Forester
The son of a manager at Mintons, Thomas Forester mastered the craft of ceramic manufactur...
Category
1920s English Art Nouveau Vintage Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
Antique French Majolica Pitcher by La Faïencerie d'Onnaing
Located in Haddonfield, NJ
Antique French Majolica barbotine pitcher produced by La Faïencerie d'Onnaing in the late 19th or early 20th century. These pitchers, also called pichets or canettes, are known for t...
Category
Late 19th Century French Art Nouveau Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
19th Century French Hand Painted Ceramic Barbotine Vase Stamped T. LeFront
Located in Dallas, TX
This large hand painted antique vase was created in France circa 1865, made of Majolica, the colorful vase depicts a hand painted scene with ...
Category
Mid-19th Century French Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica, Ceramic, Porcelain
French Green Majolica Fish Tureen by Sarreguemines
Located in Tarrytown, NY
French green Majolica fish tureen by Sarreguemines.
Category
1940s Vintage Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
French Majolica Elephant
Located in New York, NY
From Normandy, rare extra-large Bavent French Majolica elephant. White glaze finish, two-tone brown woven blanket and ceremonial basket. This charmin...
Category
20th Century French Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
$15,500
1950s Vallauris Majolica Ceramic Large Leaf Platter / Centerpiece
By Vallauris
Located in Barcelona, ES
Eye-catching large leaf flower glazed ceramic platter, serving tray or centerpiece manufactured by Vallauris. France, 1950-1960s.
Interesting to be used as decorative centerpiece, fr...
Category
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Majolica Furniture
Materials
Pottery, Majolica, Ceramic
French St. Amand Majolica Camel-Form Lidded Box
Located in Downingtown, PA
French Majolica Camel-form Lidded Box,
St. Amand,
circa 1870
The French majolica box is in the form of a seated, naturalistically colored, camel on a raised mottled green ground. On its back is a loaded pack filled with different packed goods. The top section is removable to reveal a square-shaped hollow interior in light blue.
Mark: on the base is an impressed "St Ad"
Dimensions: 8 inches high x 10 inches long x 5 inches deep; (20.32cm high x 25.40cm x 12.7cm)
Provenance: New York Private Collection,
Jesse Davis Antiques...
Category
1870s French Victorian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
Bauhaus Era Ceramic Bonsai Planter by Eva Zeisel Schramberg Art Deco Avantgarde
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
This exceptional Bauhaus era ceramic bonsai planter or cachepot was designed by the renowned designer Eva Zeisel and produced by the Schramberger Majolika Manufaktur (SMF) in Germany...
Category
1920s German Art Deco Vintage Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
Period 1820s Irish Card / Tea Tables Solid Mahogany with Later Carvings
Located in Manhasset, NY
Period pair of Irish card or tea tables solid mahogany with later carvings. These wonderfully carved card tables have cabriole legs and ball and claw feet. Each having a center drawe...
Category
Early 19th Century Northern Irish Georgian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica, Mahogany
Life-Size Italian Bulldog Terracotta Pug Dog Statue Figurine Vintage, 1960s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Add a touch of charm to your home with this exquisite ceramic Terracotta Pug or French Bulldog sculpture. This piece captures the playful spirit of the beloved breed with intricate d...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica, Terracotta
19th Century Large English Leaves & White Flowers Jardiniere
Located in Austin, TX
19th Century Large English Leaves & White Flowers Jardiniere.
15.5 by 7.5 inches.
H / 7 inches.
Category
1880s French Country Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
Cantagalli Majolica Rectangular Ashtray or Tray, Italy 1940-1950
By Cantagalli
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Vintage majolica ashtray or catchall tray features elegant rectangular shape with lightly scalloped and textured rim and hand painted abstract garlands decor. Graphic cobalt blue an...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica, Pottery
19th Century French Hand Painted Ceramic Barbotine Soldier Pitcher by Onnaing
By Onnaing
Located in Dallas, TX
This antique Majolica water pitcher was crafted by Onnaing in Northern France, circa 1880. The colorful pitcher features a brave soldier dressed...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
Mid-century French Majolica Cheese Platter Vallauris
By Vallauris
Located in Austin, TX
Mid-century French Majolica Cheese Platter Vallauris
Decorated with tomato,onion,pepper.
Category
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
Rare Majolica Jardinière Squash, Grape and Leaves Wilhelm Schiller & Son
Located in Austin, TX
Rare and unique 19th century Majolica jardinière with squash, grape and leaves signed Ws & S (Wilhelm Schiller & Son).
Category
1880s Czech Rustic Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
20th Century Italian Hand Painted Porcelain Majolica and Glass Table
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
For sale is a fine and rare 20th century hand painted porcelain table, possibly of Italian origin, bespoke made for a member of the aristocracy of the early 20th century. The top of ...
Category
Early 20th Century Italian Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ormolu
$122,326 Sale Price
20% Off
Majolica Pond Life Ewer Wilhelm Schiller & Son, circa 1885
Located in Austin, TX
Monumental 19th Century Majolica ewer with crawfish handle, dragonfly snail, grasshopper, frog and aquatics plants, signed Wilhelm Schiller...
Category
1880s Czech Aesthetic Movement Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica, Ceramic, Faience
Stunning large antique quality Majolica cheese dish
Located in Ipswich, GB
Stunning large antique quality Majolica cheese dish having a large quality dome shaped lift off top with a shaped handle decorated with flowers and leaves in wonderful green, pink, b...
Category
19th Century Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
Late 19th Century Majolica Plate with Publican Portrait, by J. Maresch Austria
Located in Nuernberg, DE
A large Austrian majolica plate, circa 1880-1890s. The plate represent a publican on a green background surrounded by grapes and leaves with a...
Category
Late 19th Century Austrian Late Victorian Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
Large Sarreguemines Majolica Partridges Wall Plaque
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
Sarreguemines Majolica wall plaque which features a scene of three partridges foraging for food, amongst wheat, oak and a pond. Molded in deep relief. Colouration: cobalt blue, green...
Category
1880s French Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Majolica
French Majolica Parakeets Plate Salins, circa 1890
By Salins
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica plate two parakeets with oranges Salins, circa 1890.
Category
1890s French Art Nouveau Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Majolica
19th Century Majolica Asparagus Plate Luneville
By Luneville
Located in Austin, TX
19th Century rare Majolica asparagus plate, Luneville unsigned.
Rare brown color.
Every important French manufactures produced at the end of the 19th century asparagus and artichoke ...
Category
1880s French Aesthetic Movement Antique Majolica Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Faience, Majolica
Antique and Vintage Majolica Platters, Pottery and Other Furniture and Decor
The popularity of Victorian majolica, the gaily colored, metallic-oxide-glazed earthenware, has ebbed and flowed for more than a century. Right now, antique and vintage majolica plates, pitchers, decorative objects and other pieces appear to be having a moment — again.
Starting in the 1850s, people in the U.S. and the U.K. embraced these affordable housewares with unusual polychrome palettes (turquoise and pink) and whimsical forms (candlesticks shaped like dolphins). By the 1870s, majolica was being mass-produced for an ever-expanding middle class in countries like England, France, Sweden, Hungary and Portugal. Majolica was Art for Everyman. Its popularity coincided with interest in exotic Japonisme and scientific studies by the likes of Carl Linnaeus, Charles Darwin and John James Audobon.
Despite a similarity in name, Victorian majolica is significantly different in subject matter and form from its Italian forebear, Renaissance maiolica. That earlier earthenware bore gaily painted religious and mythological scenes, and unlike majolica, with its lively contours, was not molded or three dimensional.
What was the attraction of majolica for the 19th-century collector? “Imagine what it looked like in a Victorian interior, with dark woods, heavy drapes and upholstered chairs and sofas,” says Susan Weber, founder of the Bard Graduate Center in New York. “Majolica is robust and extremely tactile. With its naturalistic shapes, colorful glazes and often humorous themes, it appealed to the growing consumer society.”
In England, manufacturers like Minton began to produce decorative, relief-molded majolica tiles for the interiors of taverns, train stations, even the famous Queen’s Dairy at Frogmore, on the grounds of Windsor Castle. In 19th-century France, Sèvres and smaller ceramics firms began to reinterpret the snake-decorated platters made by Bernard Palissy, a 16th-century self-taught French potter. The result was a type of majolica called Palissy ware, which, like the originals, was festooned with odd creatures (lobsters, lizards and snakes) modeled by hand.
The late Moroccan-born, Paris-based decorator Alberto Pinto often placed Palissy ware in his clients’ living rooms, posing individual pieces on brackets against a background of stamped, gilded leather. Pinto, in turn, influenced such contemporary decorators as Harry Heissmann of New York. After 1900, people got swept up in the romanticism of Art Nouveau and ceased buying majolica. The 1970s saw a revival of interest, and in 1982, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, in New York, organized “English Majolica,” an exhibition featuring 75 examples from Minton, Wedgwood and George Jones, among other makers.
On 1stDibs, find antique and vintage majolica tea sets, vases, candlesticks, tureens and other furniture and decorative objects.
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