History of Ceramics in Tuscany

Asciano's ceramic production

Asciano, an important centre of ceramic production in the Siena area, represents a typical case of lack of recognition by historians of those manufacturing places which, being in the walled towns of the countryside around a large town, have not managed to arouse the interest of those – historians of ceramics or ceramologists – who have preferred to dedicate their studies to work in the cities.
Inspite of this, the growth of local cultural institutions, especially ones like the Sacred Art Museum in palazzo Corboli, above all, have been encouraging scholars and local authority officials in Asciano, to examine more thoroughly this aspect of local tradition which, although it has not continued to the present day, has to be considered one of the most important expressions of economic activity, if not of “applied art”, here.

Records in archives and also archaeological finds of ceramic fragments, clearly produced locally, show how potters in Asciano had already been active from at least the middle of the 14th century, a time when they were producing archaic majolica decorated in copper and manganese and water-proofed on the inside with a yellowish lead glaze, with methods commonly used in the main city, Siena. Besides, at that time, we know how potters in Asciano regularly supplied important religious institutions in the area of Siena, such as the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Oliveto which received from those workshops not only tableware, but also kitchen utensils and coarse earthenware objects (storage jars and large plant pots). The development of pottery in the last two centuries of the Middle Ages, is confirmed by the names of local streets and quarters, for example the quarter known as “Cocciaio” (potter) and “Copperia” and streets like “potters’ street”.

The "Fornacetta" of Asciano,
(XIV - XVII cent.), excavated in 1998-99.

Over the 15th century, alongside archaic majolica we find glazed engobed and sgraffitoed ceramics. This is a production of great interest, both because of the number of the finds and the use of motifs and decoration widely used in Siena and other places, such as San Gimignano, Castelfiorentino and Montelupo, places which are relatively distant from Asciano and the area around Siena generally. Unfortunately we are still far from being able to establish if such a spread of engobed and sgraffitoed ware, following a style which appears to have started more from Siena than Pisa, was inspired by the kilns of Asciano rather the the ones in Siena.
It is certain, however, that already on June 18th 1537, Sienese potters forced some ceramic workers to sign an agreement to prevent competition. This is identified in the Statute of Sienese jar makers – transcribed into the code of law immediately afterwards, but dated in 1565 – as “universitatem et figulorum castri Asciani”. In 1572, by decree of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the University of ceramic artisans in Asciano was forced to adopt a statute which regulated its activity, and was consequently literally squeezed out, after the necessary changes were made, of the partnership with Siena in 1528.

The shortage of archaeological research, as well as leaving the complicated story of the engobed ware in the shade, substantially prevents us also from finding out how ceramic workshops in Asciano were able to interpret new techniques and type of work developed in the Renaissance period, beyond clearly resorting to those generic “Italo-Moresque” formulae (these too in a way we can term “Sienese”), witnessed by a wealth of fragments recovered.
Besides, we know very little about the mature Renaissance period (between 1480 and 1530 approx), with the exception, also in this case, of the old cultural influence of Siena, partly enriched by hints (imitation of the “porcelain type” decoration) which seemed rather to imitate Florentine models and more specifically those from Montelupo.

The image of the flourishing production in the 16th of the ateliers in Asciano today is still that of a glazed ware of the Faenza “bianchi” type, fortunately corroborated by ceramic objects belonging to important museum collections. Among these it is worth mentioning the plate in “compendiario” style with a crest, dated August 30th 1578 and signed “F.F.D. Fortunatus Philigellus p(inxit) Asciani”, of the Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche di Faenza, and the beautiful jug, in the British Museum, with beehive pattern and a handle placed on top like a basket, with the crest of the Palmieri. At the back it has the writing “F.P. Asciani die XII Maij/1600”. Also worthy of note is the majolica plaque with San Lorenzo, once in the Cora collection, with the seal “Ascian(i)(.) X aprilis 1592”, delicately painted like the compendiario style.
It is quite probable that the inclusion of Siena in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1555 and, even more, the general crisis of the first half of the 17th century (1618-21), culminating later in the plague epidemic in 1630-32, may have created – in Asciano as in other ceramic producing centres in Italy – conditions favourable to an increasing reduction in productivity. Gherardini, in the report sent to Cosimo III in 1676, in fact, lists only five potters working in Asciano, marking an evident reduction in the number of such businesses. More than a century earlier, in 1565, as many as twelve potters had taken part in drawing up the statute of this craft.
Nevertheless, Asciano shows signs of vitality still in the second half of the 17th century. Some potters, in fact, tried to instil more life in the Valdarno production, by moving to San Miniato al Tedesco in 1655 to run a kiln belonging to the local hospital. Here they stayed and worked for at least twenty years, without succeeding in obtaining a monopoly, which they asked for persistently from the authorities of the Grand Duchy, for the manufacture of majolica.

The new century, with new technical discoveries in the field of porcelain and earthenware, brought about a general collapse of the old factory centres, but was not enough to eliminate local production entirely. Even the University of Asciano potters was active until the second half of the 18th century.
As well as examples of vessels which appear to be aimed at the lower end of the market, many religious plaques and crests in majolica (among them that of the Bianchi Bandinelli in Via Bartolenga, dated “1775”) still built into the facades of houses in Asciano, are a valuable record of the still excellent work of potters in the second half of the 18th century. Ceramic manufacture continued throughout the 19th century, so much so that the last in the long “pre-industrial” line of kiln products has been identified in a jug belonging to an endowment from the Santa Maria della Scala hospital in Siena, dated “1900”.

Fausto Berti