Italy
Florence. The first successful attempt in Europe to imitate porcelain was made at Florence as early as 1580, under the auspices of Francesco I. de’ Medici, but it was not so hard as that of China; that is to say, it was not composed of kaolin and petuntse, but was a soft paste and translucent, which is one of the principal tests of porcelain. For some reason, the manufacture of this porcelain was abandoned after the death of the inventor.
Fig. 107, a cruet for oil and vinegar, has scroll ornament in blue; on either spout A and O (Aceto and Olio). About 1600.
Fig. 108, a bowl, is painted inside and out with blue flowers. About 1600.
Doccia. The manufactory was founded in 1735 by the Marquis Carlo Ginori, contemporaneously with the manufactory at Sèvres. About 1760 it rose to great importance, and large groups were executed from the models of the most celebrated sculptors. In 1821 the moulds of the Capo di Monte porcelain were transferred to Doccia.
About 1860 the fabrication of the imitative Capo di Monte ware of the 18th century, in coloured mezzo-rilievo, was brought to great perfection, as well as the successful imitation of the maiolica of Xanto and Maestro Giorgio of the 16th century, by the invention and introduction of metallic lustres in the colouring.
Fig. 109, a teapot, is painted with flowers and purple border.
Fig. 110, a basin, has a band of flowers in relief. Diameter 5½ in.
Naples—Capo di Monte. This manufactory was founded by Charles III. in 1736. It is considered of native origin, as the art, which was kept so profound a secret in Dresden, could, at that early period, have scarcely had time to be introduced here, and the character of its productions are also essentially different. The king himself took great interest in it, and is said to have worked occasionally in the manufactory. The beautiful Capo di Monte services and groups in coloured relief are of the second period, circa 1760.
Fig. 111, a vase, has green ornaments, on gold ground, and medallions of figures.
Fig. 113, a cup and saucer, is painted with landscape and figures.
Treviso. There was a manufactory of soft porcelain probably established towards the end of the 18th century, carried on by the brothers Giuseppe and Andrea Fontebasso.
Fig. 115, an écuelle, with blue ground, has gold fret borders and oval medallions of Italian buildings, landscapes, and figures.
Fig. 116, the cup is painted with a garden scene, with a man and woman holding flowers, the former also holding a bird, the latter a cage.
Turin—Vinovo. Vittorio Amedeo Gioanetti established a manufactory of porcelain at Vinovo or Vineuf in 1770. Attempts in this direction had been previously made, but they were unsuccessful, and it was not until Gioanetti applied himself to the manufacture that it succeeded. The ware was noted for its fine grain and the whiteness of its glaze, as well as for the colours employed in its decoration.
Fig. 117, an écuelle, is ornamented in gold, with initials and the Royal Arms.
Venice. Porcelain of soft paste was made here probably about 1720.
The “Casa eccellentissima Vezzi” was founded by Francesco Vezzi, a goldsmith of Venice. He invested the sum of 30,000 ducats in a porcelain company, amongst whose shareholders were Luca Mantovani and others. The site of the Vezzi manufactory of porcelain was at S. Nicolo in Venice. How long after Vezzi’s death it was carried on does not appear, but judging from the statements made to the Senate in 1765, it did not long survive him, and the secret of his process for making porcelain had evidently not been disclosed.
Materials for making porcelain were to be obtained in the Venetian dominions, but not such as to produce the hard or Oriental porcelain; they were therefore procured from Saxony, as were probably also some of the workmen, which will account for the fact that the “Casa eccellentissima Vezzi” produced both hard and soft paste.
The pieces made at the Vezzi manufactory are painted with masquerades, grotesque Chinese figures and decorations in relief, flowers, birds, arabesques, and geometrical patterns and colours, statuettes, &c., especially in the Venetian red which pervades all the decorations, the handles, borders, and mouldings being sometimes covered with silver or platinum, producing the effect of oxidised metal mountings. Another striking peculiarity in the decoration of porcelain of this period is a border of black or coloured diaper work formed by crossed lines, having in the interstices small gilt points or crosses bordered by scrolls. These specimens are mostly of hard paste in the form of bowls, plates, tureens, &c.
A beautiful example of this porcelain is represented in Fig. 118, a vase and cover of hard paste painted in lake camaïeu, heightened by gold, with a continuous landscape; the peculiar border, noticed above, with marks and interlaced bands, is shown on the cover; the edges, knob, and flutings are raised and plated with silver or platinum.
After the Vezzi manufactory had ceased to exist we have no documents to prove that any efforts were made to introduce the manufacture of porcelain into Venice until December 1757, when a petition was presented to the Venetian College by Frederick Hewelcke & Co., who stated that the sale introduced and directed by them in Dresden of Saxon porcelain had been carried on in a very flourishing manner, but that in consequence of the then existing war (the Seven Years’ War, which commenced in 1756), they had been obliged to abandon Saxony and to seek refuge in a foreign country.
On the 18th of March 1758, a decree granted to the Hewelckes the privileges they had requested. It seems that the undertaking proved eventually to be unfortunate, and at the termination of that war, which had brought them to Venice, they returned to their native country.
In 1765, the Senate granted to Giminiano Cozzi, in the Contrada di San Giobbe, Venice, protection and pecuniary assistance in carrying out a manufacture of porcelain. Cozzi’s first efforts were directed towards the imitation of the Oriental ware; and a very large trade was carried on by him for nearly fifty years. He produced statuettes in biscuit, in glazed white porcelain, and coloured groups, vases, &c. The gilding on Cozzi’s porcelain is especially fine, the pure gold of the sequin having been used in its decoration.
The manufactory ceased to exist in 1812.
Nove. The manufacture of porcelain at Nove may be traced back as far as the 12th January 1752, when Pasqual Antonibon brought from Dresden a certain Sigismund Fischer to construct a furnace for making porcelain in the Saxon style.
From this time forward he continued his experiments, and must have made great progress in the art, for in February 1761 he had three furnaces, of which one was for Saxon (ad uso di Sassonia), the other two for French porcelain (ad uso di Francia).
In 1762, Antonibon submitted specimens of his porcelain to the Board of Trade, and petitioned that the patent rights which had been conceded to Hewelcke should be extended to him. At that time, the report states, Antonibon had at Nove a manufactory, rich in buildings, machinery, and tools. The capital embarked in it was estimated at 80,000 ducats, and so great was the sale of his products that he gave employment to 150 men and their families, in addition to 100 people employed in his retail business, carried on at his three shops in Venice. This extensive manufactory was, however, principally for maiolica.
On the 7th April 1763, a decree was made in his favour; and he appears to have set earnestly to work in his manufacture of porcelain. His competitor, Hewelcke, shortly after deserted Venice; but he had a more formidable rival in Giminiano Cozzi, who obtained a decree for making porcelain in 1765, in which Pasqual Antonibon’s manufacture is noticed, the Senate declaring it to be the duty of the magistrate to make such arrangements as would lead to an amicable understanding between the rival manufacturers and their workmen.
Pasqual Antonibon and his son Giovanni Battista continued the fabrication of porcelain until the 6th February 1781, when they entered into partnership with Signor Parolini. The same manufacture, con sommo onore dell’arte, was continued by them until the 6th February 1802, when it was leased to Giovanni Baroni, who produced some very charming pieces both in form and decoration; but in a few years, from being badly conducted, it began to fall off, and by degrees it went to decay and was abandoned. The “Fabbrica Baroni,” however, lingered on for more than twenty years.
An example of the Baroni fabrique, in porcelain, with female figure handles, and painted with classical subjects, is given. (See Fig. 121.)
On 21st May 1825, the old firm of “Pasqual Antonibon and Sons” resumed the works, the actual proprietors being Gio. Batt. Antonibon and his son Francesco; they continued the manufacture of porcelain until 1835, but all their efforts to sustain it were ineffectual; they could not compete with the porcelain manufactories of France and Germany, so they were compelled to abandon the factory.