Plate 18th century

This painted plate was made in Castelli, Italy, sometime in the 18th century. It is earthenware covered with a tin glaze, also known as maiolica. The smooth, white surface of the glaze provided the perfect ground for the artist’s detailed landscape scene and decorative border. Notice the soft, muted tones – blues, greens, yellows – achieved through the application of metallic oxide pigments. The painting is highly skilled, but this plate was not conceived as ‘high art’. Instead, it belongs to the more workaday world of ceramics. To make this plate required considerable technical knowledge. The throwing of the plate, the preparation and application of the glaze, the precise control of the kiln’s atmosphere during firing – and of course, the confident brushwork of the painter. All this labor is easily overlooked, but essential to appreciating the final product. So next time you see an example of decorated earthenware like this, remember to consider the collaborative effort and accumulated skill that went into its making.