{"id":1583,"date":"2016-10-27T23:38:11","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T22:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/?p=1583"},"modified":"2021-04-30T11:55:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T10:55:06","slug":"maiolica-majolica-home-visits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/maiolica-majolica-home-visits\/","title":{"rendered":"Maiolica Majolica Tin Glaze Lead Glaze Home Visits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Majolica Society Visit Homes and Collections
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

The Majolica International Society (MIS)<\/h2>\n

We will remember the MIS Convention\u00a0of August 2016 for a very long time, especially for the collections of maiolica majolica. If you ever wondered what you\u00a0would value most after joining the Society…<\/p>\n

Home visits might be top of your list<\/h2>\n
\"Fish,<\/a>
Fish, ferns and so much more…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A\u00a0journey to a residence in Virginia is scheduled.<\/p>\n

On boarding the bus, refreshment\u00a0and snacks are provided because traffic jams are anticipated. How very thoughtful. Great start!<\/p>\n

\"Detail<\/a>
Majolica Collection, Detail of Deer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u00a0are greeted by our host and her family. Their collection is a wonderful sequence of lessons in how to group multiple majolica pieces in harmony<\/strong> with each other. We see how\u00a0complementary cabinets, tables, wall coverings and other types of d\u00e9cor all fit together.
\nThe hospitality is so welcoming. We leave sated with majolica and designer ideas. Replete\u00a0with refreshment and blueberry pie, we wish only that we had the capacity to try the many other treats and delicacies on offer.<\/p>\n

There was of course more. Much, much<\/em> more…\u00a0\u00a0 [R-slider id=”1″]<\/p>\n

Next day, another home, another collection, more majolica, some maiolica<\/h2>\n

With the luxury of space, this collector’s taste for\u00a0larger pieces\u00a0is exercised to maximum advantage. Every space has its own feel. A lady’s touch is everywhere.<\/p>\n

\"102516_1718_WowThoseCol1.JPG\"<\/a>
Ben Tulk of Madelena (right) admiring the wonderful collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/span>The main room layout is dominated by a magnificent window with a wonderful view and a huge fireplace. Rare, museum quality, iconic majolica sets the tone for the entire collection. In the centre\u00a0the rare Minton Peacock. Only eleven examples are known. Another rarity,\u00a0the Wedgwood Swan Vase on the right. Adorned in lion skins, the rarest of them all, a handsome, fearsome, six feet\u00a0tall Minton Blackamoor.<\/p>\n

\"Rare<\/a>
Rare Minton cat-handled vase circa 1862, decorated with coloured lead glazes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On each side of the fireplace a rare Minton cat-handled vase.<\/p>\n

Note the perfect color control. This vase was made in 1862. An 1857 vase<\/a> in a different colour palette with some color run is\u00a0currently available\u00a0from Madelena<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the dining-room\u00a0we are\u00a0drawn to the astonishing Prometheus Vase<\/h2>\n

A\u00a0perfect marriage of\u00a0mythology, design and\u00a0the new coloured lead glazes invented by Leon Arnoux. Ceramic chemist and Art Director of Minton and Co. he was in later life\u00a0later known “the man who made Mintons”.<\/p>\n

\"Minton<\/a>
Minton lead glaze majolica perfection. Nine coloured lead glazes decorate the Prometheus vase. Depicts the daily torture of a bound and chained Prometheus by eagle(s) devouring his liver. All’s well that ends well however as Prometheus is eventually rescued by Heracles (Hercules).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u00a0choose\u00a0a\u00a0view showing nine different coloured lead glazes, including plain lead glaze used over the buff ‘biscuit’ body for flesh tones.<\/p>\n

Can you believe all nine coloured lead glazes are applied to the ‘biscuit’ body simultaneously, then fired, just once, with so little colour run?<\/p>\n

The ‘majolica’ process\u00a0involves no faffing around with multiple stages and time consuming brush painted scenes. This is in\u00a0contrast to\u00a0the tin-glaze ‘maiolica’ process\u00a0used to produce\u00a0the Minton Urbino vase below, where the painting takes much longer.<\/p>\n

In a delightful airy area with comfortable seating a large majolica snake follows the progress of passers-by from its position under one of the armchairs. Humour, taste and\u00a0intelligence, characteristic virtues of High Victorian style, are\u00a0all around us.<\/p>\n

A stunning group of whimsical tea-pots<\/h2>\n

… and related majolica occupy a space in another room. England’s upper classes doubtless would have thought these of low taste. Pity them. The new lead glaze majolica is being produced in styles so ‘new generation’, so up to date and so adaptable to the fashion of the moment, that upcoming Victorians revelled and delighted in the originality, intelligence\u00a0and humour. Art pottery to make you think. Art pottery to make you smile.<\/p>\n

\"Minton<\/a>
Minton cockerel teapot circa 1876, Minton Chinese influence teapot circa 1880, Schiller crocodile finial teapot and sugar circa 1890, Minton spiky fish teapot circa 1878, Zsolnay chocolate pot circa 1900, Minton bamboo tea kettle circa 1877, Royal Worcester Oriental influence tea kettle circa 1880, Minton Squash teapot and sugar circa 1869, Minton Thistle Creamer circa 1867.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This has been a mere glimpse of the collection. There is simply too much to absorb in the time available.<\/p>\n

Besides which,\u00a0we are\u00a0on a mission<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0MIS Library (Karmason Library) is a wonderful resource for members of the Majolica International Society. We had spotted two pieces of\u00a0particular interest to our majolica maiolica enquiries. Karmason Library does not mention tin glaze for either item. We think both pieces\u00a0may be tin-glazed with brush painted decoration hence our\u00a0need to take a closer look.<\/p>\n

\"Ginori<\/a>
Ginori maiolica revival\u00a0wine cistern circa 1875. Tin-glazed interior and exterior. Interior with brush painted scene in imitation of 16th century Renaissance maiolica. Exterior with relief decoration, brush painted enamels in imitation of Victorian majolica.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

First, the Ginori<\/h2>\n

Circa 1875 maiolica revival wine cistern, a beautiful example of Ginori’s determination to revive the popularity of tin-glaze Renaissance Italian maiolica.<\/p>\n

Interesting, and a little sad, that Ginori feels it necessary to\u00a0decorate the\u00a0exterior in imitation\u00a0of fashionable 1870’s coloured lead glazes majolica. Is it imitation? Or are these genuine colored glazes on the outside, with a\u00a0tin glaze maiolica interior?<\/p>\n

Most noteworthy are the exterior ‘majolica’ colours which\u00a0we judge to be of unequal depth and vibrancy to the coloured lead glazes of real majolica. Furthermore we see leaves painted with black veins.\u00a0Viscous lead glazes invariably ‘pool’ on sculpted surfaces. We see no ‘pooling’ only a painted likeness of it. Where the ochre and blue colours\u00a0touch they look flatter, different from the margins between blue lead glaze and ochre lead glaze with which we are so familiar.\u00a0In conclusion we\u00a0judge\u00a0the Ginori cistern\u00a0to\u00a0be\u00a0tin-glazed all over with painted decoration inside and out.<\/p>\n

\"Minton
Minton tin-glazed majolica Urbino vase, brush painted decoration on a white opaque tin glaze.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Second, the wonderful tin-glazed, brush -painted\u00a0Urbino Vase<\/h2>\n

This is the earthenware\u00a0that\u00a0Minton did<\/em> call ‘majolica’. Very rare. Made with English clays.<\/p>\n

Minton’s lead-glazed ‘Palissy’ ware which soon also<\/em> became known as ‘majolica’ was the ware that became the hottest thing in pottery of the Victorian era and today can be found everywhere.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0MIS Library\u00a0(Karmason Library or KL) wants to hear about all examples of hand painted ‘Urbino’ vases by Minton.<\/p>\n

This vase is awesome.\u00a0Small wonder Minton were proud of this product. What a shame it was not more successful commercially.<\/p>\n

If you ever wondered what you would value most after joining the Society, the KL resource might easily be a contender to top even home visits, knowledgeable speakers, intelligent company, and ‘Majolica Heaven’. Why not join now for a trial year<\/a>?<\/p>\n

The Karmason Library entry for the tin-glaze Urbino vase is below. The library is online with an Advanced Search capability.<\/p>\n

\"urbino-ewer2-karmason-library-entry\"<\/a>
Karmason Library Record for the tin-glaze Minton majolica vase in imitation of Italian Renaissance maiolica.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thanks to the Majolica Society<\/h2>\n

… for the Karmason Library and for two\u00a0memorable\u00a0visits. Thank you, our hosts, for your amazing hospitality and for sharing your homes and collections.<\/p>\n

Join the Majolica Society<\/a><\/h2>\n

Madelena Majolica Gallery<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Majolica Society Visit Homes and Collections The Majolica International Society (MIS) We will remember the MIS Convention\u00a0of August 2016 for a very long time, especially for the collections of maiolica majolica. If you ever wondered what you\u00a0would value most after joining the Society… Home visits might be top of your list A\u00a0journey to a residence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-majolica"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1583"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3095,"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions\/3095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}