History of Ceramics in Tuscany

The Montelupo majolica - 2

The renewal of the repertoire: the “istoriati”, the “bianchi”faentini, the “a quartieri” type

The turbulent years of transition from the Florentine Republic to a Medici Duchy (1530-37) added to various other difficulties, were enough to subdue considerably an otherwise florid production.
The immigration of some potters from Faenza are recorded in this period. The first of these was Girolamo Mengari, a potter of great skill. This, on the other hand, was the time when the workshops in Montelupo began to renew their repertoire, almost as though they wanted to take part in creating a new national “idiom”, after their more “independent” success of early Renaissance.
So here too the first “istoriati” were painted. These reflected the styles of Casteldurante and Urbino, and the coloured glaze, inspired by the “berrettini” of Faenza started to spread.
The middle of the 16th century – one of the moments of change in the production of Italian majolica – brought to the workshops in Montelupo an interest in the variegated world of the “compendiario” which drew inspiration from easily recognizable sources: the so-called “bianchi” from Faenza, on the one hand and Venetian majolica on the other. From the first, Valdarno potters found suggestions for their “a quartieri” type of product, from the second they learned to paint melancholy, very light blue landscapes and those vigorous multi-coloured leaves which are not called “Venetian” by chance.

A new change in production: the engobed ware

Difficult market conditions, resulting from a high rate of inflation, caused an important change in production. While the lower classes bought less earthenware, choosing other, less costly manufactured goods, the upper classes bought the more costly majolica objects, which were lavishly glazed like “bianchi” from Faenza or the fine “Raphaelesques” from Urbino.
Forced to cater for new market tendencies, potters in Montelupo turned to the production of engobed ceramics (glazed engobing, but also marbled or dappled etc.), with a lower cost of production. Already towards 1550, the difference between engobed ware and majolica leapt from the one percent in the years between 1490-1500 to almost fifty percent in the second half of the 16th century. What is more, the manufacture of glazed ware fell into a state of progressive inertia, so much so that it was unable to shake off the repetition of the old Renaissance decoration and the emulation of styles produced in other manufacturing centres in Italy.

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