Spain
The exact date of the introduction of enamelled pottery with lustre-pigment into Spain is unknown, but the existence of manufactures of “golden” pottery at Calatayud, in Aragon, is testified to by the Mohammedan geographer Edrisi in the 12th century.
The Hispano-Moresque period, which is best known to us from the numerous specimens preserved to our time, commences with the 14th century, when the Alhambra of Granada was erected by the Moors.
The earlier pieces of the 14th and 15th centuries may be distinguished by a golden yellow metallic lustre, and blue enamel on a white ground. The designs are Moorish, consisting of diaper patterns, foliage, fantastic and other animals, shields of arms of Spanish princes, &c., and sometimes Arabic inscriptions, transformed into ornamental designs.
Fig. 43, a vase, is decorated with leaves and conventional flowers, in reddish yellow lustre and blue.
The azulejos or enamelled tiles of the Alhambra, bearing passages from the Koran, shields and other devices, are well known; they date from the beginning of the 14th century (see Fig. 44).
Malaga. The principal as well as the earliest centre for the manufacture of fayence was in this city, and the finest known specimen of Moorish fayence is the celebrated vase of the Alhambra, which is supposed to be as early as the palace itself, viz. the 14th century, and was probably made here. The colours of the decoration are a pure blue enamel, surrounded or heightened with a yellow lustre on white ground.
Figs. 45 and 46 are other specimens of the Spanish lustre ware, with shields of arms, of the 15th or 16th century.
Majorca was the next in importance as regards its ancient manufacture, but it must also have had a very extensive trade in fayence, for it was exported to almost every part of the globe. Giovanni de’ Bernardi da Uzzano, writing in 1442 about the productions of the Balearic Isles, says “the fayence of Majorca has a very extensive sale in Italy.”
As the keramic art in Spain declined, the Arabic inscriptions, which were perfect on the early vases like that of the Alhambra, were copied, but the painter, not knowing their signification, employed them as ornaments, until at last they became altogether confused and illegible. The arabesques were no longer in such elegant taste, and large coats of arms entirely filled the centres of vases and plates.
Valencia was also celebrated for its fayence, which may be traced back to Roman times, for Saguntum, now Murviedro, is mentioned by Pliny and others as noted for its jasper red pottery. It is impossible to discover the origin of the lustred pottery of Valencia, but it probably dates from the beginning of the 15th century, when it became the most important in Spain. The pieces attributed to this place have Christian devices; many of them bear the inscription, “In principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum,” from the first chapter of St. John, and the eagle displayed (not in an escutcheon as in the arms of Aragon), for St. John was particularly venerated at Valencia. Of its earlier productions of the Moorish period nothing is known.
Valencia has from time immemorial been celebrated for its azulejos or enamelled tiles. There are many houses of the 15th and 16th centuries still existing in the ancient cities of Spain, the walls of whose rooms are covered with tiles ornamented with borders, scrolls, and geometrical designs. The celebrity of this manufacture is maintained to the present day. Fayence of all descriptions was extensively made at Valencia throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Fig. 47, a dish, is blue and white with a lion in the centre.
Manises, near Valencia, was also celebrated from the 16th to the 18th century. The decorations appear to be of Oriental design, executed for the most part in a rich copper-coloured lustre. Some dishes with copper-colour lustre have upon them a mark of an open hand, which may be the emblem of the place, and are dated 1610 and 1611. Fig. 48, a vase, is painted in lustre, with foliage, birds and animals, and with a rudely executed shield of arms, seemingly of Sicily or Portugal.
Triana, near Seville. There were several fabriques here, one for the manufacture of spires or ornaments of earthenware, with which the gables of the buildings were crowned; others for the azulejos or tiles so much used in Spain, and for fayence vessels of all descriptions. Fig. 49 is a bottle in the form of a lady in the costume of the period of Louis XIV., en grande tenue; inside the fontange or top-knot of the headdress, which forms the spout, is written “Victor. I. Viva. Mi. Arno. Don. Damian. Sant. ✠.”
Alcora. There was a very important fabrique of fayence at this place, carried on by the Count D’Aranda, in the 18th century.
The usual mark upon this fayence is the letter A in gold or colour.
Talavera, near Toledo, was one of the most important manufactories in Spain in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the word talavera was used to indicate all fayence in the same manner as fayence in France and delft in England.
Fig. 52, a bowl, is glazed, decorated within and without with a bull fight, storks, and trees, in green, orange and manganese.