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In different periods of time and in different countries, the term majolica has been used for two distinct types of pottery.
Firstly, from the mid-15th century onwards, maiolica was a type of pottery reaching Italy from Spain, MajorcaArthur Beckwith, 1877, Majolica and Fayence, Italian, Sicilian, Majorcan, Hispano-Moresque and Persian, D. Appleton and Company, New York, Meaning of Majolica, p. 23: "The introduction of a stanniferious enamel tin-glaze to Italy occurred previous to its use by Luca della Robbia.... Previous to that we find it used in Spain and Majorca..." and beyond. This was made by a Tin-glazingW.B.Honey, Keeper of the Department of Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Faber and Faber, 1944. "TIN-GLAZE (or 'tin-enamel'), once widely used on maiolica, faience, and delftware, is a potash-lead glaze made white and opaque with oxide (ashes) of tin." (dip, dry, paint, fire), resulting in an opaque white glazed surface decorated with brush-painting in metal oxide enamel colour(s). During the 17th century, the English added the letter j to their alphabet.Charles Butler, English Grammar, 1633, London: "The first English language book to make a clear distinction between i and j was published in 1633." Maiolica thereafter was commonly anglicized to majolica.
Secondly, from mid- to late 19th century, majolica was made by a simpler processW.B.Honey, Keeper of the Department of Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Faber and Faber, 1944. "LEAD-GLAZE... silica in the form of sand or powdered quartz fused with the aid of a flux such as lime and potash… and commonly including an oxide of lead... " (painting and then firing) whereby coloured lead silicate glazes were applied directly to an article, then fired. This resulted in brightly coloured, hard-wearing, inexpensive wares that were both useful and decorative, often with a naturalistic style. This type of majolica was introduced to the public at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, later widely copied and mass-produced. Minton & Co., who developed the coloured lead glazes product, also developed and exhibited at the 1851 Exhibition a tin-glazed product in imitation of Italian maiolica which also became known as majolica.
Arnoux was describing the Minton & Co. tin-glazed product made in imitation of Italian maiolica both in process and in styles. Tin-glaze is simply plain lead glaze with a little tin oxide added. His description is often referenced,* Merriam-Webster Online [1]
in error, as a definition of Minton's other new product, the much copied and later mass-produced ceramic sensation of the Victorian era, Minton's coloured lead glazes, Palissy ware. The 16th-century French pottery of Bernard Palissy was well known and much admired.Art Journal, 1850, Catalogue to Mediaeval Exhibition "...sections are thus enumerated in the catalogue:-... 4. Italian Majolica tin-glazed;... 7. Palissy Ware 16th;..."Christie, Manson & Woods Catalogue, 16 June 1884, Sale of Fontaine Collection of Majolica tin-glazed, Henri II, Palissy Ware 16th Mintons adopted the name 'Palissy ware' for their new coloured glazes product, but this soon became known also as majolica.Paul Atterbury and Maureen Batkin, 1997, 'Dictionary of Minton', Antique Collectors' Club. "Minton did not use the word maiolica themselves, relying instead on the Victorian version, majolica, which they used to mean wares of Renaissance inspiration, featuring hand painting on an opaque white glaze. These were therefore quite distinct from the coloured glaze decorated wares which we now call majolica, but which Minton referred to as ."
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Biscuitware was painted with thick coloured lead glazes simultaneously, then fired. The process requires just two stages and skill in painting. When fired in the kiln, every colour fuses to the body, usually without running into each other. The ceramic technology, which transformed the fortunes of Mintons, was developed by art director Leon Arnoux.Joseph Francois Leon Arnoux (1816–1902)
Ware dipped (or coated) in tin glaze, set aside to dry, brush-painted on the unfired glaze, then fired. Process requires four separate stages and high skill in painting.
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