About Majolica

Majolica is usually associated with wares produced in Spain, Italy, and Mexico. The process of making majolica consists of first firing a piece of earthenware, then applying a-tin enamel that upon drying forms a white opaque porous surface.

A design is then painted on and a transparent glaze applied. Finally the piece is fired again. Majolica’s antecedents were the Albarelli and the platters made by the ninth to thirteenth century Hispano-Moresque artisans. 

These pieces were then shipped in the 14^TH and 15^TH centuries from the port of Majorca, Spain to Italy, where, as products of the Italian Renaissance, the chargers, pitchers and goblets were renamed maiolica.

The “Ceramic Caravan” brought the techniques to northern Europe, where tin-glazed pottery was produced in the 17^TH and 18^TH centuries in Holland, Germany, Sweden, and Russia.  During the 16^TH century, the French scientist and ceramic artist, Bernard Palissy reformulated the Renaissance glaze and created outstanding examples of platters decorated with marine life;  these Palissyware designs were revived in the late 1800's by artists in France and Portugal. In the 19^TH century, the technique of tin and lead glazing were further developed in London and Brighton and then reached the Ceramic Caravan’s final destination at Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.   There, in 1849, Herbert Minton, head of the renowned porcelain factory Minton & Co., had the serendipitous fortune to meet Leon Arnaux. Arnaux was a great French ceramic chemist who joined Minton’s to regenerate the production of lead-glazed pottery based on Renaissance designs. 

Early pieces, called “majolica,” were destined for English gardens; the lead glaze protected cache-pots, urns, fountains, garden seats, and life-sized stork-and-heron-shaped flower holders from inclement English weather.  In response to growing interest in the culinary arts, Minton & Co. produced magnificent majolica, destined for the Victorian dining table, each piece foretelling its use.

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