![\"Bernard](\"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1-Bernard-Palissy-Father-of-French-Ceramics.JPG\")
<\/a>Yes, Bernard Palissy developed in France the chemistry and process for painting colored glazes onto a ‘biscuit’ body, simultaneously, before firing (paint, fire). Minton & Co. of Stoke-on-Trent, England, subsequently developed the science to perfection. The narrative about majolica<\/em> reaching Stoke via Spain, Majorca and Italy, is about tin-glaze maiolica, a different chemistry, process, and look altogether (dip, dry, paint, fire).<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what is majolica? <\/strong>This word has three main meanings\/senses. It can be any one of these…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone loves colour. How to add colour to a glaze is a thing. How to make colored glazes temperature compatible<\/strong> – meaning they can be applied, simultaneously, then fired, without blistering and without too much running – is entirely another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It took nearly two millennia to achieve. Fusing lead glaze to an earthenware body had been mastered and was used across the Roman Empire[1] for centuries to seal porous pottery surfaces. But plain lead glaze has no colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By 600AD the Chinese had succeeded in producing three temperature compatible colors. Adding copper oxide to normal lead glaze produced a glaze that fired green. Adding iron oxide to normal glaze produced ochre. Adding manganese oxide produced brown\/black. These three could be fired successfully together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Independently[2], in mid-16th century Paris, Bernard Palissy was finding out for himself. After much hardship and many setbacks, he finally succeeded in developing five colors that could be applied and then fired together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research in 2016 provides proof positive of the oxides used by Palissy to create his colored glazes :<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research was conducted in Paris on a group of rustiques<\/em> ware attributed to Palissy or his followers. The glaze chemistry of the items in the group was determined non-destructively using PIXE and PIGE analyses. The summary states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe glazes are all lead silicates, the colorants being transition metal oxides-CuO [copper]<\/em>, CoO [cobalt]<\/em>, MnO [manganese]<\/em> and Fe2O3 [iron<\/em>] – with a small addition of SnO2 [tin] [for opacity]<\/em> to some of the glazes being common.\u201d Lead-Glazed Rustiques Figulines [Rustic Ceramics] of Bernard Palissy [1510-90][3]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Herbert Minton and Leon Arnoux had determined to develop a Minton version of both the16th century French colored glazes of Bernard Palissy and also of the celebrated 16th century Italian tin-glaze (plain lead glaze with a small proportion of tin oxide added) maiolica. [4][5].<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colored glazes hit the jackpot. Minton & Co. achieved near-perfection, eventually able to simultaneously fuse a wide range of colors to a \u2018biscuit\u2019 body at low cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their advanced chemistry and process, developing temperature compatible colored glazes and better kilns, was widely copied<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, the word majolica <\/em>is used in the USA, confusingly, also to describe tin-glazed earthenware – fine-painted decoration on unfired tin glaze (dip, dry, paint, fire).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The winner was colored glazes. This was a product inexpensive to produce (paint, fire). Also, around this time the fashion for naturalistic d\u00e9cor was growing. Flora and fauna molded in high relief worked perfectly with the colored glazes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The product that flopped \u2013 now so rare it is almost unknown – was Minton tin-glazed majolica<\/a> made using the tin-glaze process (dip, dry, paint, fire) – dip the \u2019biscuit\u2019 body in tin glaze, dry it, then paint with enamel colors. The enamels are \u2018absorbed\u2019 into the unfired tin glaze. When fired, the result is a distinctive opaque whitish tin-glaze[6], painted in colors, usually with brush-strokes clearly visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the first appearance of Minton’s two new products until the recent publication of Majolica Mania (2021), many authors have declined to distinguish between Minton’s two distinct products: one named \u2018Palissy\u2019 (soon known also as \u2018majolica\u2019) in honor of the great man, a resounding success; the other named \u2018majolica\u2019 after the Italian tin-glaze maiolica they were copying, a commercial flop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThus, what today we call majolica is in most cases what Minton, and Arnoux, referred to as Palissy ware.\u201d Dictionary of Minton[8]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n This would not matter \u2013 few care whether an object is colored glazes or tin-glazed with painted decoration \u2013 except a narrative around what is majolica, and where did it originate, has been constructed around the wrong product. The overwhelming majority of \u2018our majolica\u2019 derives from Bernard Palissy\u2019s colored glazes majolica process in France, nothing to do with the Renaissance tin-glaze maiolica process in Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why did not Minton clarify the difference at the time? Was it a case of \u2018the less said about lead the better\u2019? Could it be that Minton, Arnoux, everyone with an interest in the lead-reliant pottery industry would wish to divert attention from any product high in lead content?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Arnoux formula[9] for lead glaze comes from Arnoux\u2019s personal notebook . It is important to remember that this was a period of time when lead-poisoning of workers in the pottery industry was under attack, a battle that started in earnest in 1839 that took a century to win[10].<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1852 Arnoux had been invited, following the Great Exhibition of 1851, to lecture on Ceramic Manufacturers, Porcelain and Pottery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the course of a long and detailed lecture he never once mentions the colored glazes product Minton named \u2018Palissy\u2019 ware. Was Arnoux deliberately avoiding mention of a blatantly lead-glaze product? Or maybe the commercial promise of his new, appealing, and economical colored lead glazes, was a subject not to mention before an audience that included competitors?<\/p>\n\n\n\n He did, however, state, \u201cLead is very little used now\u201d, intimating that borax had significantly replaced lead in the industry. Judging by the proportion of Red Lead to Borax in Arnoux\u2019s formula, above, approximately 6:1, this would appear to be a slight exaggeration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand he promotes Minton\u2019s imitation of tin-glaze Renaissance maiolica, the product Minton named \u2018majolica\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On page 395 he speaks of Minton\u2019s desire to revive 16th century majolica [meaning tin-glaze Renaissance maiolica]:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I should like to speak about\u2026 majolica\u2026 It seemed to Mr. Minton desirable to revive a species of pottery which, in the sixteenth century, was adapted to the same use as our finest porcelain…” Leon Arnoux, 1853[11]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n On page 396 he continues in the same vein with a description of tin-glaze majolica, their own English version, which they named \u2018Majolica\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We understand by majolica a pottery formed of a calcareous clay gently fired, and covered with an opaque enamel composed of sand, lead, and tin.” Leon Arnoux, 1853<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Arnoux\u2019s brief \u2018definition of majolica\u2019 is often condensed, out of context[12], to become \u201cMajolica is pottery decorated with lead and tin glazes\u201d. Consequently, whilst this is a true statement, it does nothing to explain the difference, nor to spotlight the overwhelming importance of colored glazes majolica versus tin-glazed majolica in 19th century earthenware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Illustrated London News, Nov. 10, 1855, p.561:<\/strong> \u201cThe collection of Palissy and Majolica ware, however, is that which appears to have created the greatest sensation among Parisian connoisseurs. The reader will remember that the main difference in these wares is that whereas the Palissy ware is colored by a transparent glaze Majolica ware contains the colour (opaque) in the material [in the unfired tin glaze covering, fired to produce the characteristic opaque whitish enamel with painted decoration fused within]… One sample of Palissy ware\u2014being a little tea-service spread upon a leaf, the legs of the teapot being snails… [characteristic of ultra naturalistic Palissy ware].<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leon Arnoux, 1867, Report on Pottery, Reports on the Paris Universal Exhibition:<\/strong> \u201cMajolica [tin-glaze earthenware, opaque white surface painted in enamel colors] was produced for the first time by Messrs. Minton, in 1850, and they have been for many years the only producers of this article [in England]. The name of majolica is now applied indiscriminately to all fancy articles of colored pottery. When, however, it is decorated by means of colored glazes [applied directly to the ‘biscuit’], if these are transparent [translucent], it ought to be called Palissy ware\u2026 Messrs. Wedgwood, George Jones, and a few other makers of less importance, are reproducing it more-or-less successfully. To Messrs. Minton, however, we owe the revival of the ware [colored lead glazes on biscuit, ‘Palissy ware’], which, in connection with [alongside] their majolica [the tin-glaze ware], created such a sensation in the French International Exhibition of 1855\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also: \u201cThe Palissy faience is composed of a clay slightly colored [buff], covered with different [lead] glazes, which have been previously colored by means of metallic oxides [iron for yellow, manganese for purple or brown, cobalt for blue, copper for green, etc.]; these glazes of different colors being applied, some by the side of others [combined upon the same piece], or blended one into another [mottled]\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minton Art Material Catalogue (1871)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Arthur Beckwith, 1872, International Exhibition, POTTERY,<\/strong> Observations on the Materials and Manufacture of Terra-Cotta, Stone-ware, Fire-Brick, Porcelain, Earthenware, Brick, Majolica and Encaustic Tiles: “The Palissy ware, formed of embossed [relief molded] biscuit covered with transparent glazes of various colours, is frequently called majolica\u2026”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jewett, L., 1878, <\/strong>The Ceramic Art of Great Britain: “Minton and Hollins have revived the art of majolica and Palissy ware, and produced the most magnificent specimens\u2026 ever attained in this description of pottery.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pottery and Glass Trades Review (1878), Bergesen, Majolica, p.37,<\/strong> “\u2026Pottery and Glass Trades’ Review, September 1878, said of Minton’s exhibit at Paris: “There is nothing from the English side of the Channel to beat or even view with Messrs. Minton’s costly crowd of majolica and Palissy wares.”\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wolf Mankowitz, Reginald G. Haggar, Art Director at Mintons Ltd. 1929-1939, The Concise Encyclopaedia of English Pottery and Porcelain:<\/strong> “MAIOLICA should not be confused with MAJOLICA – the name absurdly given by Victorian Potters to earthenware decorated with coloured lead glazes [\u2026]”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul Atterbury and Maureen Batkin, 1999, Dictionary of Minton:<\/strong> “Minton did not use the word maiolica themselves, relying instead on the Victorian version, majolica, which they used to mean wares of Renaissance inspiration, featuring hand painting on an opaque white glaze. These were therefore quite distinct from the coloured glaze decorated wares which we now call majolica, but which Minton referred to as Palissy wares.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carmen Pattinson, 2011,<\/strong> Majolica Matters, Spring 2011, Majolica \u2013 Where did it all begin?: \u201cBecause of their identical names, there has been some confusion between tin-glazed majolica\/maiolica and the lead-glazed majolica made in England and America in the 19th century, but they are different in origin, technique, style and history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Madelena Blogs:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Minton tin-glazed majolica<\/a>, October 2018 V & A Museum Website: <\/strong>\u201cThe Minton company pioneered the development of majolica glazes, and the materials and processes were perfected by the art director, Joseph Fran\u00e7ois L\u00e9on Arnoux (1816-1902), in 1849. These were based in part on Italian Renaissance maiolica and Bernard Palissy’s pottery, but whereas maiolica pigments are painted onto a raw tin glaze (which fired to an opaque white), Minton’s majolica, like Palissy’s pottery, used brightly coloured semi-transparent lead glazes applied to the biscuit-fired body.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlthough Arnoux did produce tin-glazed, painted wares in the style of Italian ceramics, what is now known as majolica was a range of brightly coloured low-temperature glazes launched in 1849 as ‘Palissy Ware’. Only later did these become known as majolica ware.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Almost all the majolica of interest to collectors during the 20th century is painted with colored glazes, using a process worked with in France by Bernard Palissy, later pe glazesrfected by the Minton factory in England. It\u2019s popularity in England and success world-wide would appear to be due to a happy combination of three circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. A providential partnership between the resources of Herbert Minton and the knowledge of Leon Arnoux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. The auspicious suitability of colored lead glazes applied to relief molded earthenware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. A movement in \u2018buyer taste\u2019 away from classical and Revivalist, towards styles more contemporary, with vibrant colour, naturalistic, exciting, even humorous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [1] Victor Bryant, Ceramics in the Roman world<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [2] Henry Morley, 1852, Palissy the Potter, The Life of Bernard Palissy, of Saintes \u201c\u2026I blundered for the space of fifteen or sixteen years\u2026”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [3] Bouquillon, A & Castaing, J & Barbe, F & Paine, S.R. & Christman, B & Cr\u00e9pin-Leblond, T & Heuer, A.H.. (2016). Lead-Glazed Rustiques Figulines [Rustic Ceramics] of Bernard Palissy [1510-90] and his Followers<\/em>: Archaeometry. 59. 10.1111\/arcm.12247.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [4] In France, Avisseau of Tours, possibly known to Arnoux, had already started developing colored lead glazes in the manner of Bernard Palissy, winning a Gold Medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851<\/p>\n\n\n\n [5] Paul Atterbury and Maureen Batkin, 1999, Dictionary of Minton<\/em>, \u201che developed a fine buff earthenware designed to be decorated with a range of transparent glazes coloured with metal oxides that could be painted directly on to the biscuit body\u2026\u201d The entries on MAIOLICA and MAJOLICA<\/a> are comprehensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [6] W.B. Honey, 1944, Keeper of the Department of Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum, The Art of the Potter: <\/em>\u201cA TIN-GLAZE (or ‘tin-enamel’), once widely used on maiolica, faience, and delftware, is a potash-lead glaze made white and opaque with oxide (ashes) of tin. A second covering of clear lead-glaze was sometimes added.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [7] Digby Wyatt, May 26 1858, Journal of the Society of Arts, On the influence exercised on ceramic manufacturers by the late Mr. Herbert Minton<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [8] Paul Atterbury and Maureen Batkin, 1999, Dictionary of Minton \u201c<\/em>Thus, what today we call majolica is in most cases what Minton, and Arnoux, referred to as Palissy ware.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [9] Joan Jones, 1993, Minton the first 200 years of Design and Production<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [10] Carmen Pattinson, 2015, Prevention of Lead Poisoning in the Glazing of Earthenware<\/em>, Majolica Matters. “The investigation started in 1839 and took a battle of just over 100 years for the lead content to be dramatically reduced in glazes”<\/p>\n\n\n\n [11] Leon Arnoux, 1853, Lecture 23 Lectures on the Results of the Great Exhibition of 1851<\/em>, David Bogue, 86 Fleet Street, London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [12] The context lies in the previous paragraph p.395 “It seemed to Mr. Minton desirable to revive a species of pottery which, in the sixteenth century, was adapted to the same use as our finest porcelain…”, a clear reference to Italian Renaissance tin-glaze maiolica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Subscribe to an email list that may be of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Explore majolica, Rene Lalique glass, antique samplers, Staffordshire figures, Fairyland Lustre, Minton Secessionist and WMF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The premier showcase and resource for English pottery. Be amazed at colored glazes majolica perfection (paint, fire) in the form of the astonishing Minton Peacock standing next to a fabulous example of Minton’s tin-glazed majolica (dip, dry, paint, fire).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sharing the magic of majolica – Madelena article summing up its appeal, value, manufacture, forms, fashions, and global reach.Dis<\/p>\nmajolica n. Definition.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Making colored glazes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Bernard Palissy\u2019s five colors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Colored Glazes Majolica Perfection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>Texts seldom make it clear<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Blame LEAD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>We understand by majolica…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a>Texts referencing Minton Palissy ware and Minton Majolica as different products<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Lead Glaze Perfection \u2013 Victorian Majolica<\/a>, March 2016
One word for two different products. How might that happen?<\/a>, March 2017
Victorian Majolica\/Maiolica \u2013 Quiz Questions, Answers, Evidence<\/a>, January 2016
Majolica Definition \u2013 More<\/a>, April 2015
Introducing Majolica<\/a>, October 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Publications Quoted or Referenced in the text above:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Subscribe for Madelena Notifications<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Madelena website<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Potteries Museum, Stoke-on-Trent<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Discover Majolica<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n