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Distributed for Paul Holberton Publishing

Italian Maiolica and Other Early Modern Ceramics in the Courtauld Gallery

A lavish showcase of the works of the skilled potters and pottery painters of the early modern period. 

Maiolica, the pottery of the Italian Renaissance, is one of the most revealing artistic expressions of the era, known for extraordinary colors that remain vivid centuries later. Italian potters absorbed techniques and shapes from the Islamic world and incorporated ornament and subject matter from the arts of ancient Rome. This new approach to pottery making, combined with the invention of printing, woodcut, and engraving, resulted in extraordinary painted ceramics, praised by Giorgio Vasari for “surpassing the ancient with its brilliance of glaze and variety of painting.”

The Courtauld Gallery’s collection boasts a magnificent group of vessels made during the high Renaissance, the golden age of Italian maiolica. An introductory essay on the Victorian collector Thomas Gambier Parry sheds new light on the collection’s development, illuminating links between Gambier Parry’s artistic practice and revealing new insights into his taste as a collector. Each detailed entry uncovers a wealth of new information on the provenance of the pieces.

304 pages | 180 color plates | 9 3/4 x 11 1/4 | © 2022

Art: European Art


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Reviews

"This fine book offers much useful information on the mid-19th-century art market in London and on the Continent."

Country Life

"The Courtauld's collection of Early Modern ceramics has in this handsome volume its first comprehensive catalogue ... generously illustrated."

World of Interiors

"The gallery of the Courtauld Institute of Art was the only one of the five large public collections of Italian maiolica in London – together with the V&A, the British Museum, the Wallace Collection and the Wernher Collection – to still lack a specialist study [of its holdings]. Elisa Paola Sani has filled this gap brilliantly with this volume, rich and well documented not just in its photography, but also in the critical essays and, most importantly, in the presentation of the pieces. The catalogue, written in English, is the result of a meticulous study begun by the author in 2017, which continues the research originally undertaken by John Mallet."

Faenza

"Sani has put together a remarkably well-documented catalogue of the Courtauld Gallery’s collection of 72 ceramic pieces from the late 15th to the early 18th century. . . Sani provides a superbly well-researched history and description of each of the pieces; many of the descriptions include information from personal notes of the original owner, Parry, as he gathered the collection. J. V. G. Mallet introduces the catalogue with an excellent overview of the evolution of maiolica."

Choice, highly recommended

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