History of Ceramics in Tuscany

Sesto ceramics typology

La The Sesto Ceramics historical production can be divided into three main typologies:
maiolica - porcelain - earthenware

MAJOLICA
The majolica products are: oil containers, stoves, tiles, Della Robbia reproductions, ‘Raffaellesca’ decoration vases, vases for pharmacies.
The majolica, based on a red and porous clay body, containing iron, has a first firing at 930°C circa and then it acquires a red-brownish colour. After a first tin based enamel coating - white and highly covering - the objects are coated again with a transparent glazing made of lead oxide, borax, sodium carbonate, silica etc, in order to add brightness to the surface. Then they are fired again at a lower temperature.
The enamel main task is to make the craft waterproof.
At present the lead percentage has been lowered, for sanitary reasons, to the point of being risk-free.

PORCELAIN
The porcelain products are houseware such as flower vase, fireplace, snuffbox, jar, panels, tableware, sculptures, bas-relief.
The porcelain is the more valuable product within the ceramic range. Based on compact clay body - hard, waterproof, white and translucent once fired – it is the result of a blend of three elements: kaolin, quartz and feldspar. According to the relative proportion of the components, it is called hard or soft porcelain.
Hard porcelain – first made in China, has a clay body made of kaolin and feldspar (pê-tun-tze), first fired at 900°C to obtain the bisque, then coated by a feldspathic paint and fired at 1400°C circa. The coating melts to the clay body becoming a hard and translucent covering.
Soft porcelain – It is a substitute of hard porcelain, is made of a clay body of siliceous and feldspatic sand together with alkali - called ‘frit’. It fires at very low temperatures and offers the possibility to make velvet looking decorations - they seem to sink in the creamlike covering.
There are several varieties among which the ‘medicea’ and the bone china porcelain - made with bone ash used as a flux in the clay body.

EARTHENWARE
Earthenware products are often houseware - as vase, inkstand, statuettes - and tableware.
The Earthenware has a porous, white, clay body. It has a first firing at 1200°C circa and then is coated with a transparent paint and then fired again at a lower temperature.
According to the composition and the degree of firing, you can have strong earthenware, hard earthenware, soft earthenware.