Opaque tin glaze, painted earthenware and workshop practice in Renaissance maiolica, with a dated Deruta dish as one regional example.
White tin glaze and painted clay
Renaissance maiolica begins with earthenware coated in opaque white tin glaze and painted with ceramic colours. The pale ground let painters work across vessels, plates, reliefs and tiles, bringing images and ornament to everyday forms.1
Clay, glaze, painting and fire
Maiolica specialists prepared and shaped local clay, mixed and applied glaze, painted with ceramic pigments and fired the wares. Some sixteenth-century wares then received a second clear glaze for a brighter surface, a variation within the broader workshop practice.1
A network of Italian centres
Florence was an early centre of Renaissance maiolica. Before 1500, Naples, Pesaro, Faenza, Rome and Deruta joined Florence as centres of maiolica; Urbino, Venice and others followed. Workshops developed distinctive objects and decoration across this network.1
