CHAPTER XIV.

THE PORCELAINS OF SOUTHERN EUROPE--ITALY, SPAIN, ETC.

Florentine, or Medicean.--Is it a True Porcelain?--The House of Medici.--Marks.--Doccia Porcelain.--The Marquis Ginori.--Beccheroni.--Present Work.--Marks.--Venice.--Vezzi.--Cozzi.--Marks.--Turin. --Gioanetti.--Marks.--Nove.--Terraglia.--Marks.--Capo di Monte.--Naples.--In Relief.--Marks.--Spanish Porcelain.--Buen Retiro.--Marks.--Portugal.

Florentine (or Medicean) Porcelain.--In the time of the 1700's, after the discovery of kaolin in Saxony, kings and princes were eager to signalize themselves by establishing porcelain-works in their states, and upon these they spent much money. It has come to light within a few years that the merchant-princes of the house of Medici enlisted in the same cause, and were the _first_ to establish a porcelain-factory in Europe; this discovery, made by Dr. Foresi, of Florence, has been confirmed by various others. The question only is, "Is it porcelain?" Mr. J. C. Robinson, a distinguished English writer, says:

"A discovery of some curiosity and interest in connection with the history of the manufacture of porcelain in Southern Europe has recently been made by the acumen of Dr. Foresi, of Florence, and which has the effect of antedating the manufacture by at least a century. Before this discovery the fabrique at St.-Cloud, in France, was the earliest that could be authenticated. This was about the year 1695; but the facts now brought forward prove the existence of a factory for the manufacture of a true porcelain at Florence, under the patronage of the Grand-duke Francis I., about the years 1580 to 1590. For some time the doctor had observed a peculiar ancient porcelain of a fine body and glaze, and covered with an arabesque ornament in blue, which, while it generally resembled Oriental porcelain, showed unmistakable features of European design. It was also marked in a peculiar manner, and, as one mark consisted of the well-known pellets of the Medici family arms, he was induced to search the records of the house, and, to his surprise, found--what had been overlooked by all historians of the potter's art--that the duke above named had attached to his well-known laboratory in the Boboli Gardens a small manufactory of porcelain. By continuing his researches he at last exhumed a manuscript from the Magliabecchian Library, which had been compiled by some person employed by the duke, and which also detailed the facts connected with the composition of the ware."

This manufacture continued from 1575 to 1587.

THE MEDICI.--The history of this remarkable family of the Medici can never fail to interest. Roscoe has presented it well in his "Life of Lorenzo the Magnificent," etc. The origin of the family is very vague; but the fact is well known that the founder of its greatness was Giovanni de' Medici (he died 1429), who, instead of grasping states and principalities with one hand, while the other held the glittering sword, as had for so long a time been the fashion, seized upon the great trade which then had sprung up between the Occident and the Orient, and which became vast and profitable in the hands of the merchants of Florence, Genoa, and Venice.

This trade poured ducats into his coffers like the flow of a river, and when he died he left vast stores of gold to his sons Cosmo and Lorenzo.

Cosmo, instead of degenerating into a "rich man's son," went on with the work which his father had begun; but he conducted it as a great man should, not as a great miser would. This was true of his successors, who continued to be merchants and bankers, even after they had come to be grand-dukes and rulers of the Florentine state. This wealth was used, of course, to push their own fortunes and ambitions, but it was used in a ducal way, not only in the building of palaces and galleries, but in the encouragement of the arts and of letters, all of which increased his own glory, while it ministered to the magnificence of the state. The Medici had ceased to be merchants long before the time of Francis, but it is easy to believe that the traditions of his family ran in his veins, and that he should have been ready to attempt the production of porcelain in his city, when the love for it and the desire for it had grown to be an influence in Europe, as it had in the seventeenth century. Nineteen specimens only are known of this earliest porcelain, and these are in the hands of museums and of private collectors. Examples may be seen in the Sèvres and Kensington Museums.

It seems that the best quality was made for the family of the founder, and this bears the mark of six pellets, each with a letter and one with a _fleur-de-lis_. These letters, F. M. M. E. D. II., mean _Franciscus Medici Magnus Etruriæ Dux Secundus_.

We engrave here (Fig. 140) a beautiful _bocca_, or pitcher, fifteen inches high, of this porcelain, which is in the collection of the Baron de Rothschild. The decoration resembles the style of maiolica known as Raffaelesque; the body is white and the painting of a light blue. The handle is a crown, formed by uniting those of the Medici and of Austria. The less beautiful pieces are described as "coarse, opaque, and of a bluish gray, the glaze thick and vitreous." This china was something between hard and soft.

Whether this production of Italy is really porcelain, is open to doubt. M. Demmin, who is certainly entitled to great consideration, denies it very plainly. He states that the vase exhibited by M. Rothschild, in 1865, showed a break at the neck, and that the body was not porcelain, but a white clay--_terre de pipe_. He states, also, that the five pieces in the museum of Sèvres are not translucid, and have no signs such as mark the _pâte tendre_ of France or Italy. English writers choose to class this under the head of porcelain, which seems, at least, to be very questionable. The two marks are:

DOCCIA (near Florence)--HARD AND SOFT PASTE.--In the beginning of the last century there existed in the north of Italy families who had inherited wealth and honor, and who still retained their vigor. They may not have been many, but among them the Ginori were numbered. Italy has been living in the luminous glories of the art of the Renaissance these five centuries, and the light, as it seems to us, grows dim rather than glowing. Neither painting, sculpture, nor architecture, seems to-day to have more than a thin flavor of that past, when Church and state, noble and simple, combined to welcome the advent of a new artist. The production of porcelain belongs to the later time; but it certainly, in a limited way, shows signs of life and of originality more than any art of the later time, except, perhaps, music. To-day it is not so.

The productions of the south--Capo di Monte--I have elsewhere spoken of as not being servile imitations of anything, and as possessing much merit and originality. Of the productions at Doccia I have seen none, and the descriptions in books do not enable me to form any judgment. Of the maiolicas of Italy, now being reproduced largely at Doccia, I shall write hereafter.

The Marquis Ginori founded a manufactory near Florence in 1735, which is in a flourishing condition to-day. Inspired with the desire to produce work of a high character, he spared neither trouble nor cost, and sent a ship to China to procure there the clays which had secured the Chinese porcelain its peculiar character and its great excellence. Not only were services for the table and other articles for social use produced by the workmen and artists under the direction of the marquis, but almost immediately they were engaged in the production of statues and groups, in great variety, and some of which were half the size of life; many were modeled from fine work of the Greek sculptors.

The paste is said to have been of a high grade, but the glaze was then lacking in the finest effects of the Chinese potters. Having seen none of it, I am unable to say more than that.

A pair of vases from this factory, in Walpole's collection at Strawberry Hill, are described as "vases with blue and white oblique flutes; they are of coarse workmanship, although the form is good."

Forsyth, an English traveler who visited the factory in 1802, speaks of the works and the work very disparagingly, and says the latter was then much inferior to that of England, as it doubtless was.

In 1821, when the Capo di Monte factory, at Naples, was discontinued, the moulds were bought and taken to the Doccia works, and are still owned there. The peculiar work in relief, which will be spoken of under the head of "Capo di Monte," is now made there, and is sold in considerable quantities, and often for the genuine Capo di Monte, from which, of course, it is not easy to distinguish it. Marryat states that this was made at Doccia, in the last century, probably from moulds procured then at Naples.

Sèvres shapes and designs were imitated at Doccia, and a large production is now going on of the maiolica vases and dishes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which are sold all over Europe and in America. In Paris are produced copies of these, not only in design, but also with marks to indicate age, intended to deceive the unwary. We do not believe this of the works at Doccia. Still, one can but regret that the public demand for these copies should be so great as to forbid original work there.

The artist most praised is Beccheroni, and his painting of miniatures is spoken of as "exquisite." Baldassini and Tuppi are also mentioned in terms of high praise.

A note in Marryat's volume says: "The manufactory now employs two thousand persons. Attached to the establishment are a fine park and farm, schools for the children, an academy of music for the workmen, a savings-bank, and everything that can be devised to promote the moral improvement of its occupants. In the chapel annexed are monuments in porcelain of the deceased marquises; and in the adjacent parochial church the high altar, _torchères_, candlesticks, ciborium, etc., are all in porcelain--an offering of the Ginori family."

Some of the ware made here is stamped _Ginori_; others bear some one of the following three marks.

VENICE--HARD AND SOFT PASTE.--Pottery had been made at Venice from an early day, at least as far back as 1515. But, after the production of true porcelain at Dresden, it seems that a rich merchant of Venice, named Vezzi, in company with some others, engaged in the production of porcelain there, getting his clay from Saxony. Various articles were made, and their production probably continued till about 1740. But it was not a success, owing, besides other causes, to the fact that the clay had to be transported so far. It could not, of course, compete with the works at Dresden. Some few examples of this exist, but very few.

The mark of Vezzi's factory was the letters, painted or stamped, Ven^A, a contraction for Venezia.

Later, about 1753, a German named Hewelcke made some attempts at Venice, with no practical result.

_Cozzi's_ productions were of more importance.

Chaffers quotes from an official report as follows: "Concerning the manufactory of Japanese porcelain, it was commenced only in 1765, your excellencies were eye-witnesses of its rapid progress and therefore deservedly protected and assisted him. He now works with three furnaces, and has erected a fourth, a very large one, for the manufacture of dishes. He has constantly in his employ forty-five workmen, including the six apprentices whom he has undertaken to educate, and from the date of his privilege, in August, 1765, down to the middle of December, 1766, has disposed of sixteen thousand ducats' worth of manufactured goods, etc., so that it may be fairly inferred that he will yet continue to make greater progress both in quantity and quality."

At these works, for about fifty years, a great variety was made, such as vases, statuettes, both white and colored, plates, dishes, services, etc.

The imitations of Chinese work were so good as to deceive many. The designs of Dresden, Sèvres, and the English workmen, were also produced here with great skill.

Some excellent vases made at Venice are to be found in the collections in Europe. In New York, Mr. Barlow and Mr. Prime have some pieces which may be of Venice, or they may be of Chelsea, as the paste and the mark are almost identical. The marks of the Vezzi and the Cozzi wares are as follows:

At TURIN and Treviso porcelain was made in the last century; as to the latter but little is to be said. Some pieces are known, upon which is the mark G. A. F. F. and the name _Treviso_ in script.

Near Turin, at Vineuf, a manufactory was established about 1770 by a physician named Gioanetti. "It was noted for its fine grain and the whiteness of its glaze," says Chaffers; while Marryat says, "The glaze, however, is wavy and yellowish."

It was sometimes marked with a simple +, at others with a =V= under the cross, and again as shown here:

NOVE--HARD PASTE.--Porcelain seems to have been attempted at Nove, near Bassano, in Italy, about 1752, by a man named Antonibon, who with his son afterward continued it till 1781 or later. Some elaborate pieces were made here, one of which we have taken from Marryat's book, because it seems to possess, what so few do, excellence and originality. It is in the Reynolds collection in England, and is some twenty-seven and a half inches high--a superb piece of work (Fig. 141). The business passed into other hands, and after 1800 it gradually went to decay.

In 1825 it was revived by some descendants of the first Antonibon, who struggled on for ten years, but they could not sustain themselves against the capital, the clay, the brains, and skill of Saxony and Sèvres. They still make there, as they always did, maiolica, fine and common, and _terraglia_ faience, in considerable quantities and of much excellence, called in France _terre de pipe_. This _terraglia_, it may be said, is a sort of demi-porcelain, being made of a mixture of the true porcelain clay and the native potter's clay. It is susceptible of great precision of modeling and of a high finish, and some beautiful work has been done in it in Italy.

The marks of Nove were usually a star or asterisk, with six rays; sometimes the letter N, or the word NOVE, was added.

CAPO DI MONTE--SOFT PASTE.--This beautiful porcelain was made first at Naples in 1736, under the direct patronage of the king, Charles IV., afterward Charles III. of Spain. The king was an enthusiast, and sometimes worked in the factory himself, and under this inspiration it is not surprising that excellent work was done. But, besides this, very common services and figures were made later, many of which bear the mark of the _fleur-de-lis_, so that all Capo di Monte is not equally good or equally valuable. And the same may be said of the productions of any man or any manufactory.

A letter written to Lord Chatham in 1760 says of this King Charles: "He is particularly fond of the china-manufacture at Capo di Monte. During a fair held annually in the square before his palace at Naples, there is a shop solely for the sale of a part of this china, and a note was daily brought to the king of what was sold, together with the names of those who bought; and it is said he looked often favorably upon the persons who made any purchases."

The king, being of a Spanish family, succeeded to the crown of Spain in 1759, when he carried with him many of the workmen and his own tastes, and established there the manufactory of _Buen Retiro_, of which is a brief account hereafter. After his departure the factory languished, lacking his interested inspiration.

The marked originality of the Capo di Monte porcelain is the _designs in relief_ which were impressed upon the plaques, and also upon teacups, vases, etc. These were very delicately and carefully _stippled_ in colors, and this distinguishes them from imitations and reproductions which have been made in great numbers at Florence, and which are sold at very much smaller prices.

Not only were these articles in relief and of great beauty made here, but also very excellent, creamy, soft porcelain painted on the flat, and exquisitely painted, too. The specimens I have seen have a character of their own, which has the great merit of being indigenous and not an imitation. The tea-services, of which we now and then see single pieces, are lovely.

Mr. Prime has some excellent pieces, of both styles; as has Mr. Wales, from whose collection we have engraved our illustrations.

The three pieces marked Fig. 142, 143, and 144, are painted on the glaze, and are exquisite both for design and color.

The single vase (Fig. 145) has two bands, most delicately modeled and painted in relief.

Work was continued with more or less success until 1821, when the moulds were sold to the Doccia manufactory, at Florence; but after 1780 hard paste was made at this factory, under the patronage of King Ferdinand.

The marks used are here given; the earliest was a ruder form of _fleur-de-lis_. This _fleur-de-lis_ mark was also used at Madrid, and, as the work was almost identical, it is not easy to distinguish them.

Demmin says the marks on the hard porcelain were a crown, under which were sometimes the locked letters RE or FK.

Marks of Capo di Monte:

SPANISH PORCELAIN--BUEN RETIRO.--When Charles III. came to the throne of Spain in 1759, from Naples he brought with him many of the workmen and much of the skill which had produced the beautiful china at Naples. These he established near his palace of _El Buen Retiro_, at Madrid, and here his experiments and the manufacture were carried on with great secrecy and much care. A letter from Spain, written in 1777, quoted by Marryat, says: "In the gardens of Buen Retiro the monarch has established a china manufactory, which strangers have not hitherto been permitted to examine. It is undoubtedly intended that experiments shall be secretly made, and the manufacture brought to some perfection before it be exposed to the eyes of the curious. Its productions are to be seen nowhere except in the palace of the sovereign, or in some Italian courts, to which they have been sent as presents," etc. During the Napoleonic wars, when Spain was overrun with troops, the factory was destroyed (1812), and it has not been restored.

The single illustration (Fig. 146) is a very beautiful small vase, from Mr. Wales's collection. It is exquisitely painted, and closely resembles the porcelain of Capo di Monte.

Marks supposed to have been used at Buen Retiro:

Some porcelain has been, and I believe still is, made at Alcora.

In PORTUGAL, at Oporto, porcelain has been made since 1790, of no supreme qualities.

It is rather singular that the people who first introduced the fine porcelains of China and Japan into Europe, who, for some two centuries, had almost uninterrupted control of the commerce, who brought it by ship-loads to all the countries of Europe, should apparently have had less interest in the subject than any other, should have less of it to show to-day than most others, should have made less effort to produce it in the past, and should be doing almost nothing to-day.

But countries, like men, have their manhood and their dotage, and then they pass out of the active life of the world: such seems to be the condition of Portugal to-day.