Sicilian Maiolica in Maltese collections

Magazine Antiques, April, 2003 by Lara Bugeja

In March 2002 a small collection of maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware) left the island of Malta to travel to Sicily and the Netherlands. The selection included a number of pieces from Malta's national collection. The exhibition, entitled Antique Sicilian Maiolica in Malta and promoted by the Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti (Maltese Heritage Foundation), was the first time the Maltese collection had been shown outside the Mediterranean region.

Much of what we know today about the tin-glazed earthenware produced in Renaissance Italy comes from Cipriano Piccolpasso's Litre libridall'arte delvasaio (The three books of the potter's art). (1) He emphasized the collaborative nature of the process, from gathering and preparing the clay, glazes, and pigments to throwing, painting, and firing the pots. He suggested that a typical workshop probably included a manager-owner, a couple of potters, two or three painters, a man to tend the kiln, and a couple of general workers. (2)

Malta's national collection comprises more than six hundred pieces of Sicilian maiolica, the vast majority of which dates to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when its manufacture had long passed its prime. The collection consists almost entirely of pharmaceutical jars monly known as albarelli, made in large part for the pharmacy of the Knights of the Order of Saint John, because a substantial number bear the coats of arms of three grand masters who reigned as sovereign heads of the order during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. (3)

The albarello is Islamic in origin and shape, being tall and cylindrical and occasionally waisted for easy handling when lined up on a pharmacy shelf. It comes in all sizes from miniatures to large robust jars. The painted decoration that covers the surface often indicates where they were made and occasionally who made them.

One of the earliest examples is the rather sober looking albarello shown in Plate I, which dates to the second half of the fifteenth century. It is also the only piece in the collection that is signed by the potter, making it exceptionally rare. In fact the central band that divides the albarello at the waist contains the name Nicola Luxutu (or Lo Sciuto)--a potter of repute from Sciacca in southern Sicily. (4) The monochromatic archaic decoration dates to the first half of the fifteenth century. Later Sciacca maiolica is generally identified by a preference for deep yellows, orange, and bright green (see P1. II). The scroll motifs and stylized fleurs-de-lis are also typical of Sciacca ware.

Pharmaceutical jars were not limited to the popular albarello shape. Other forms such as the generous and rotund bombola or the handy bottiglia soon came into use. The albarello was used for pills, powders, and preserves, while the bombola and bottiglia were more likely used for large plant parts, such as roots, and for the preservation of syrups and oils, respectively. The finest examples of these forms come from the once remote hillside town of Caltagirone in eastern Sicily. (5)

If one were to identify the decorative scheme most associated with Caltagirone, it would be colorful floral motifs and scrolling foliage (see P1. III). Yellow and white petaled flowers with orange centers are placed against a blue ground, upon which are scratched fine white meandering tendrils. Quite often the obverse carried a coat of arms, a vignette, or a portrait (see P1. IV).

Caltagirone was a major center for maiolica production, and to this day it has retained a strong tradition of ceramic manufacture. Potters and painters were well organized into a system of confraternities, the most notable of which was the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, whose members executed some beautifully painted bombole and amphorae (see Pls. IV and VII). Also from the same region are a large flowerpot decorated in relief, a wonderful fruit and flower laden bombola, and a rare set of finely crafted owls (see Pls. VI, VIII, and IX).

Another aspect of Caltagirone decoration is the less popular blue-on-blue known as turchino (turquoise). Inspired by contemporary Genoese maiolica, the blue decorative motifs can be seen through the translucent blue glaze (see Pl. X). Like most Caltagirone ware the decoration is repetitive, being divided into compartments or horizontal bands. There is an excessive use of flowers, foliage, peacock feathers, and calligraphic motifs that all point to Islamic influence. In 1693 a massive earthquake inflicted immense damage to the island of Sicily. Ceramic workshops and kilns were demolished, and sadly Caltagirone never quite regained its former glory. In its later production errors are often visible in the potting, glazes, and occasionally even in the colors.

Like Caltagirone and Sciacca, other Sicilian centers of production such as Palermo, Burgia, and Trapani (6) flourished throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries with each town utilizing a distinctive decorative scheme. The expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Sicily in 1492 by Ferdinand II, king of Spain and Sicily (r. 1468-1516), coupled with rivalry from the Italian mainland, contributed to a decline in ceramic art. Sicilian masters left the island in search of work in the more important centers in Tuscany, the Veneto, and the Marches. Some returned, bringing back designs and color schemes, and as a result a few pieces in the collection have been decorated in the Venetian idiom.