ANTIQUE VICTORIAN MAJOLICA A Collector's Guide What It Is, What It Isn't, Where It Came From, & How to Recognize It Where it came from: Majolica (pronounced "mah-joll-ick-ah", with an accent on the "joll"), as we think of it today, is a fairly recent invention, having been created in 1851 by Herbert Minton and Leon Arnoux, of the famous Minton company in Great Britain.  Both men were fascinated by the arts of the Italian Renaissance, including the Italian pottery known as maiolica.  Inspired by the historic maiolica, the two men developed a modern version and called it "imitation majolica" as an homage to the pottery's Italian roots. What it is: By definition, majolica (with a J) is soft-paste earthenware that has been fired to the biscuit stage, then coated with an opaque lead or tin (or both) glaze, which is allowed to dry.  After this preliminary glaze dries, the decoration is painted on with bright, colorful metal-oxide glazes.  The piece is then fired again, resulting in the brilliant and glossy finish for which majolica is most well-known. What it isn't: Being brightly colored and glossy doesn't make a piece majolica, nor does the use of metal oxide glazes render a piece majolica.  Stoneware, parian, and creamware have all been known to be glazed with metal-oxide glazes--but they are still stoneware, parian, and creamware, not majolica. Maiolica, the Italian forebear of majolica,  also used an opaque tin glaze, which was allowed to dry, then painted with metal oxide glazes, which were then fired.  After this firing, the piece was then coated with a clear lead glaze and fired again.  This second glaze protected the colorful surface.  Majolica's Italian predecessor, Maiolica, is often seen without relief molding on the surface, while Victorian majolica is almost always relief molded....Read more A BRIEF HISTORY OF MAJOLICA CHARACTER PITCHERS Origin of the character pitcher:  Though the English Toby jug may be better known, it owes its basic form to a faience jug that became popular in the Netherlands, Flanders, and the north of France in the 1500’s, more than 200 years before the first Toby appeared on English shores.  While the official history of these Delft pitchers is lost to time, the legend of their origin lives on.  Their creation is credited to the colorful and romantic Jacqueline de Baviére (b. 1401; d. 1436), the countess of Hainaut, Zeeland, and Holland.  During a conflict with her cousin and arch-rival, Phillip of Burgundy, over control of her lands, Jacqueline was taken prisoner by Phillip and stashed in the donjon of his castle at Ghent.  While imprisoned, Jacqueline is said to have amused herself by fashioning pottery pots or jugs in the form of a seated man or woman and tossing them down from her cell to the townspeople below.  (Could this have been some sort of communication between Jacqueline and her numerous supporters?)  Certainly there must have been some sort of communication because in September 1425 two knights arrived at Phillip’s castle at Ghent and managed to slip a disguise to Jacqueline.  She escaped the donjon in the guise of a man and made her way to Gouda.  This marked the beginning of a valiant three year effort by Jacqueline to regain control of her lands.  Jacqueline was no demure hot-house flower: as comfortable in full armor as she was in silk robes, she led her own troops into battle, and, against the overwhelming might of Burgundy, fought...Read More A BRIEF HISTORY OF SARREGUEMINES POTTERY The Beginning: In 1790, three tobacco merchants founded a pottery in the town of Sarreguemines (pronounced Sahr-guh-mean) on the left bank of the Sarre River at the confluence of the Sarre and Blies Rivers in the Lorraine region of France.  Inhospitable circumstances forced them to abandon their project after less than ten years.  In 1800, Paul Utzschneider, a young Bavarian, acquired the pottery, and under his inspired leadership, and that of his son-in-law, Alexandre de Geiger, who assumed management of the company in 1836, the pottery at Sarreguemines soon took its place amongst the stars in the ceramics world.  They were best known for their “faience fine” (tin-glazed earthenware), lustered ware, jasperware, stoneware.  When Napoleon I commissioned several decorative pieces for his apartments at Versailles, the reputation of the pottery at Sarreguemines on the world stage was secured.    A period of growth: Alexandre de Geiger was just as adept and canny a business man as his father-in-law.  Politically active, he served as mayor of the town of Sarreguemines, and later served as Senator of the Empire, eventually becoming Consul General.  His political prowess served the pottery well, as under his influence a well-developed system of railways and navigable canals enabled the growth of the town of Sarreguemines into a formidable transportation center, a great advantage to the pottery on the banks of the Saar.  Alexandre’s visionary approach...Read More  TABLE OF IMPRESSED MARKS ON SARREGUEMINES MAJOLICA TABLE OF PRINTED MARKS ON SARREGUEMINES MAJOLICA