The Spread of Pottery Styles

The Dutch not only exported dishes and otherThe white lead-glazed earthenware of St
domestic wares they also exported the DutchPorchaire was decorated in an unusual manner by
tiles to England and other European nations. Thusimpressing it in patterns with small metal stamps
the making tiles became a separate branch ofand filling the marks with colored clays. This small
pottery making. And some of the importantsixteenth-century pottery has had a chequered
pottery making places was Hamburg, Frankfurt,literary history, and a century ago was the
Hanau and Bayreuth was outstanding centers.subject of speculation and bitter argument among
Bernard Palissy was one of the famous pottersexperts; first stated to have been at Lyons, then
whose students spread his styles of pottery.at Beauvais, and again Oiron, it has been decided
Dutch tin-glazed pottery, known by the name ofthat it was actually located at St Porchaire, north
the town of Delft where it became establishedof Bordeaux. Only just over sixty pieces of the
eventually, was made in great quantities and muchware survive, and most of them are in museums.
was sent to England. Not only was there a bigIt has been faked, and the English Minton factory
trade in dishes and other domestic wares, butmade exact copies of known examples.
Dutch tiles were sent also. These were ofOther French potters were affected closely by
sufficient importance to become a separateItalian work, but by the seventeenth century the
branch of pottery making; some men made themfactory at Rouen was making a tin-glazed
to the exclusion of all else, and sets of tiles weremajolica of character with decoration in red and
painted to be placed together and form pictures.blue. Potteries at Marseilles, Moustiers, Strasbourg,
Germany, also, had numerous potteries makingand elsewhere shortly became prominent, and
tin-glazed wares, and those of Hamburg,today French faience is recognized as having a
Frankfurt, Hanau and Bayreuth were outstandingdistinction of its own that rivals porcelain. It was
centers; the first-named, together withwell made and well painted; the shapes were
Nurem-burg, being noted for making the greatinteresting and often strikingly unusual.
glazed and decorated pottery stoves used forThe Swedish potteries at Marieberg and
heating rooms in many Continental countries. MuchRorstrand made excellent wares in original shapes
of the output resembled the earthenware beingwith fine decoration towards the end of the
made elsewhere at the time, and much remainseighteenth century. At about the same date a
confused with contemporary English and DutchNorwegian factory at Herreboe made some
work. Many German and Swiss potters madeequally interesting pieces. Productions from these
lead-glazed wares with slip and sgraffitofactories are rare outside Scandinavia.
decoration; much of it inscribed and dated. ThereAll types of wares were made in Portugal, but
were big centers for the making of stoneware atmost are indistinguishable from those of Spain,
Cologne and Siegburg, the latter near Bonn. MuchItaly and Holland. A century ago, a pottery was
of the output was decorated elaborately withfounded at Caldas da Rainha by Manuel Mafra, and
impressed patterns, and a large quantity of be liarhas made imitations of Palissy-ware and other
mines was made; these are jugs with fat bodiescolour-glazed pieces ever since. Some bear the
and short thin necks, the head of a bearded manmaker's mark, others do not.
impressed on the front.Different potters used in different countries and
Bernard Palissy, whose life span embraced almostdifferent styles of glazes. The Dutch potters use
the whole of the sixteenth century, made dishesthe tin-glazed known as Delft. Many German and
and other pieces modeled with lizards, shells,Swiss potters used the lead-glazed wares with slip
leaves and fishes. The clay of which these areand sgraffito decoration and the white lead-glazed
made is whitish, and Palissy and his followersearthenware of St Porchaire. When a new design
covered it effectively with colored transparentor style becomes popular different potters would
glazes. It is said that 'no class of pottery has beenfake it.
so widely copied for fraud'.