Italian Pottery; Sgraffiati, and Caffaggiolo.

Coming now to Italian pottery, we must speak first of sgraffiati, graffiti, or incised wares. This mode of ornamentation is one of the most primitive and universal in a ruder form, although it appears but little on the early glazed wares of our own country; of those of France a fine example, attributed to the 14th century, is preserved at SÈvres. In Italy, as was the case in all other varieties of pictorial art, it was brought to a high degree of perfection, not merely as a manner of ornamenting pottery but applied on a large scale to mural decoration. It appears to have been in use from an early period, examples of a coarse kind occurring among the plates incrusted in the towers of churches of the 12th and 13th centuries at Pisa and elsewhere, and it was probably in use before or coeval with the earliest painted wares.

Its method as applied to pottery is described by Piccolpasso in his manuscript, and consists in covering the previously baked “biscuit” of ordinary potter’s clay with a “slip” or “engobe” of the white marl of Vicenza, by dipping it into a bath of that earth milled with water to the consistence of cream; when dry, this white covering, fixed by a slight baking, is scratched through with an iron instrument shewing the design in the red colour of the clay against the superimposed white ground. It is then covered with an ordinary translucent lead glaze, and clouded with yellow and green by slight application of the oxides of iron and copper.

There appears to be a considerable range in the dates of various specimens in collections, some of which are probably among the earliest examples of Italian decorative pottery that have come down to us; others may be of the middle or last quarter of the 15th century and, like the fine example which we engrave, are highly characteristic; great skill is shown upon them in the combination of figures and foliage in relievo with the incised ornamentation. Nearly all the pieces of this class are probably the work of one botega, and are distinguished by the character of their designs; a border of mulberry leaves is very general, or shields of the “pavoise” or kite form. Judging also from the sort of florid Gothic character to be seen in some of the leafage mouldings, from the costumes of the north of Italy in the 15th century, and from the lion supporters and other details which connect them with north Italian art, we have little hesitation in believing that they were produced in Lombardy or the Venetian mainland.

Of the more important examples, the Louvre possesses a fine cup on a raised stem and supported by three lions; in the interior, a man habited in the costume of the 15th century stands playing a mandolin between two females, one of whom sings while the other plays the tambourine; the raised and incised mouldings on this piece are very characteristic. In the British museum are some fine dishes, one of which is remarkable for the admirable execution of the work, on which are represented figures in the costume of the 15th century, festoons of fruit and other ornaments. On another are the figures of a gentleman and a lady who plays the viol, in the costume of the 15th or early 16th century standing “dos À dos;” on her side is a “pavoise” shield bearing the “biscia” or serpent of the Visconti, while the man supports himself on one bearing the flaming bomb-shell, the impresa of Alfonso d’Este, borne by him at the battle of Ravenna in 1512.

In the writer’s collection are two early dishes, one of which is remarkable for a raised flower in the centre and incised decoration on front and back. He also possesses a large dish, 19¼ inches in diameter, having a medallion central subject of the Virgin and Child: the rest of the piece being covered with interlacing branches of what may be mulberry bearing leaves and fruit, a serpentine wreath of the same encircling the border.

It is probable that were the archives of Florence thoroughly searched some record might be found of the establishment or existence at Caffaggiolo of an artistic pottery encouraged and patronized by the Medici family, but at present we have no such recorded history. Here again the objects themselves have been their best and only historians. It was but a few years since that the ill indited name of this botega, noticed upon the back of a plate, was read as that of the artist who had painted it; but the discovery of other more legible signatures proved that at this spot important and highly artistic works had been produced. The occurrence of a monogram upon several, with the comparison of their technical details, has led to the recognition of many pieces, and revealed the fact that this fabrique had existed from an early period, and was productive of a large number of pieces of varying quality.

M. Jacquemart surmises that at Caffaggiolo Luca della Robbia learnt the nature of the enamel glaze, which he applied to his relievos in terra cotta. We know that Luca painted subjects on plain surfaces, enamelled with the stanniferous glaze as early as the year 1456, when he executed the painted tiles which form a kind of framing to the tomb of Benozzo Federighi in the church of San Francesco de Paolo, under the hill of Bellosguardo. The most important work by him of this nature is the lunette over one of the doors in the entrance-hall of the “Opera del Duomo” in Florence. Whether, learnt from him, this enamel was adopted at the Grand Ducal fabrique at an early period, or whether he there obtained the knowledge which he applied and modified to his own uses, remains a question, the answer to which would be facilitated by the proved date of the establishment of that pottery, or the occurrence of pieces anterior to the tiles enamelled and painted by Luca; but upon these points we unfortunately have not as yet discovered any recorded memorial.

It is worthy of remark that although many are of very early date no piece of a Mezza ware, confidently assignable to this establishment, is known to the writer; all that have come under his notice are enamelled with the white stanniferous glaze, no instance of the use of an engobe or slip having been observed. The woodcut p. 90 is from an early and probably Tuscan plateau.

The leading characteristics of the Caffaggiolo wares are a glaze of rich and even quality, and purely white; and the use of a very dark cobalt blue of great intensity but brilliant as that of lapis lazuli, frequently in masses as a grounding to the subject: and it would seem laid on purposely with a coarse brush, the strokes of which are very apparent. We give an engraving p. 91 of a curiously decorated tazza of early date. The colours are green, purple and blue. A bright yellow, an orange of brilliant but opaque quality, a peculiarly liquid and semi-transparent copper green are also found, and another characteristic pigment is an opaque bright Indian red. This pottery has a nearer affinity to that of Siena than to any other fabrique, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that they had a like origin or that the establishment at Siena emanated from Caffaggiolo. Both resemble in general style the pieces produced at Faenza and ForlÌ more than those of other fabriques of the northern duchies, or of the Umbrian centres of the art; and it becomes a question as to which can claim the earliest origin, as also the earliest use of the stanniferous enamel glaze. The dates inscribed upon pieces begin in 1507-9, but undated examples, assignable to this locality and of an earlier period, exist in collections.

The use of the metallic lustre seems to have been tried at Caffaggiolo, but from the extreme rarity of examples bearing the mark of or fairly ascribable to that establishment, we may

perhaps infer that only a few experimental pieces were made, and that this method of enrichment was but little used. A small

plateau at South Kensington, no. 7154, represented in the woodcut is an important example, having the mark. As might be expected, the arms, emblems, and mottoes of the Medici family frequently occur, and occasionally the letters S. P. Q. F. are introduced on labels for “Senatus populusque Florentinus.” M. Jacquemart considers that some of the early groups, &c. in relievo and in the round and early plaques with the sacred emblem, the majority of which are generally ascribed to Faenza, may be of this botega. We quite concur with him in this opinion.

The South Kensington museum is rich in fine specimens of this ware of various date and great variety, some of which are among the most admirable examples of the potter’s art. It is remarkable that we have no recorded names of the artists who painted these beautiful pieces, and it is only at the latter end of the sixteenth century that we find mention of Giacomo and Loys Ridolfi of Caffaggiolo, who emigrated with other potters from the then less encouraged manufactories of Italy to try their fortune in France. M. Jacquemart tells us that these potters or painters founded a “faÏencerie” in 1590 at Marchecoul, in Bretagne.

Some confusion has arisen among connoisseurs in France and elsewhere as to the wares of Caffaggiolo and those of Faenza, and indeed it is frequently difficult to draw the line of distinction; but we can hardly follow M. Jacquemart in his historical classification, believing that some of the pieces assigned by him to this fabrique do not really support their claim. A similar remark may apply to many of those in the Louvre ascribed to this pottery by Mons. Darcel.

Two large and finely painted early dishes (presented by Mr. Franks) are in the British museum; they were probably made about 1480-1500. On one is a group of saints, after an engraving by Benedetto Montana, on red ground, with a border of leafage moulding and peacock’s feather ornament. On the other is the subject of the Judgment of Solomon. The colours on these pieces are very rich, with much of the characteristic red pigment; the bold and firm drawing has an archaic tendency which points to an early period. The earliest dated piece having a mark and with reason believed to be of this fabrique, is a plate in the style

of Faenza with border of grotesques and central shields of arms, in the painting of which the characteristic red is used and on which is the date 1507 with the mark; that curious combination of letters P.L and O. Another is dated 1509. The letters S. P. Q. F. occur among the ornaments. M. Jacquemart considers as of the first period, those pieces having letters allusive to the Florentine republic, or the Medici arms and emblems; or the motto of Giuliano di Medici. “Glovis” also occurs, which has been ingeniously deciphered as meaning “Si volg,” “it (fortune) turns,” if read backwards: referring to the favour shown to Giuliano when appointed Gonfalonier to the Church. A noble pitcher at South Kensington no. 1715 (p. 93) has the Medici arms; and, beneath, also the motto Glovis. A large carelessly painted dish, in the British museum, the subject Abel’s sacrifice, has the word “GLOVIS” and the letters S. P. Q. R. on the altar, and on the reverse the name, curiously spelt, “In Chafaggilolo” between the ordinary mark twice repeated. The name seems to have been spelt in various ways, as “CÁffagiulo,” “Cafagiol,” “Caffaggiolo,” “Chaffaggiolo,” “Chafaggilolo,” “Gafagizotto,” &c.

Some of the specimens at South Kensington are of extraordinary beauty. Of the more interesting may be instanced no. 7154, lustred, having the Caffaggiolo mark painted on the reverse in the yellow pigment. The large circular dish no. 8928 on which is represented a procession of Leo X. is curious as a contemporary work and for the costume. The St. George after the statue by Donatello, no. 1726, is of great excellence, as is the interesting plate engraved above, p. 44, on which a ceramic painter is represented at work in the presence of a gentleman and lady, probably portraits of personages of high standing, as also of the painter himself. It is to be regretted that he refrained from recording their names and was content with affixing only the monogram of the fabrique at the back of the piece. The beautiful plate with central subject of Vulcan forging a wing and elegant border of grotesques, masks, cupids, &c., no. 2990, is probably by the same hand as the two last referred to and is a fine example. The large jug already referred to having the Medici arms on the front and other devices of that family, no. 1715, is remarkable for its excellence of glaze and colour, as well as for

its historical associations. So, again, is the vase no. 321 made for the Medici at a somewhat later date; and which we also engrave.