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"Majolica Matters", the
name of the Majolica International Society ‘s newsletter, is also the
philosophy of the more than l,000 collectors who have been members of
the Majolica
International Society.
The Majolica International Society was founded in 1989 by Indiana
auctioneer Michael
Strawser. That year, at the
Society's inaugural meeting in Ft. Wayne, forty-six members
attended. Since then, the Society's membership
has continued to grow and is made up of majolica enthusiasts who are
scholars, collectors, dealers, traders, auctioneers, photographers, restorers,
decorators, and lovers
of this whimsical,
humorous, richly sculpted and brilliantly glazed Victorian ceramic.
Made of soft earthenware covered with tin and lead glazes,
majolica’s antecedents were the albarelli
and the platters made by
ninth to thirteenth century Hispano-Moresque artisans. These pieces
were then shipped in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries from the
port of Majorca, Spain to Italy, where, as
products of the Italian Renaissance, the chargers, pitchers and
goblets were renamed maiolica.
The ”Ceramic Caravan” brought the techniques to northern Europe, where tin-glazed pottery was produced in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries in Holland ( the well-known Delft ), Germany, Sweden, and Russia.
During the sixteenth century,
the French scientist and
ceramic artist, Bernard Palissy reformulated
the Renaissance glaze and created outstanding examples of platters
decorated with marine life; these
Palissy ware designs were revived in the late 1800's by artists in France
and Portugal.
In the nineteenth century, the technique of tin and lead glazing was
further developed in London and Brighton and then reached the Ceramic
Caravan’s final destination at Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. There, in 1849, Herbert Minton, head of the renowned
porcelain factory Minton & Co., had the serendipitous fortune to
meet Leon Arnoux. Arnoux
was a great French ceramic chemist who joined Minton’s to
regenerate the production of lead-glazed pottery based on Renaissance designs. Early
pieces, called “majolica,” were destined for English gardens;
the lead glaze protected cache-pots, urns, fountains, garden seats, and
life-sized stork-and-heron-shaped flower holders from inclement
English weather.
In response to growing interest in
the culinary arts, Minton & Co. produced magnificent majolica,
destined for the Victorian dining table, each piece foretelling its use.
Picture wonderful oyster plates, fish platters and individual
fish dishes, crab servers, lobster boxes and platters, and sardine boxes,
all reflective of the English enjoyment of sea food from nearby waters.
Game dishes held rabbit, partridge, and venison that matched the
designs on the piece. In
season, strawberries were placed in large dishes complete with serving
spoons decorated with strawberry leaves. Chestnuts were presented in a
bowl heated by a warming stone and served with spoons decorated with
chestnut leaves ….no detail too precise was excluded.
Most unusual of all: tea pots modeled as a
Chinese actor behind a mask, or with a cat on the tea pot handle
stalking a mouse finial, or as a monkey sitting astride a
pomegranate.
There
was almost no limit to majolica designs. It is the unexpected, the surprise of majolica that greets the collector in
a world-renowned antiques show, or a tiny flea market, that keeps the
collector seeking, searching, finding!
Annual and regional meetings of the Majolica International Society
introduce collectors to one another, with their shared interest being
(almost!)
more important than finding unique
pieces for their collections. Pursuing
the elusive is the fate and the joy of all collectors. To assist in the pursuit, our newsletter is published
quarterly, helping those
interested in majolica to learn more
from knowledgeable
collectors, dealers, and speakers.
If you wish to join this society, please contact the Majolica
International Society.
Our
conventions unite us with authors and experts in the field of Victorian
ceramics. This web site is Victorian majolica's introduction to
interested collectors. There are also books
and resources that will further inform your
interest in
majolica.
Many factories on both sides of the Atlantic produced
majolica. Keep posted for further information as we describe the myriad
shapes and designs of majolica. We will also announce dates and locations of auctions, both here
and in Europe, and publication of books
and articles on majolica.
Join
the Majolica International Society to extend both your knowledge and
your collection!
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