Although the antique pottery of MODENA is referred to by Pliny and by Livy, we have no exact record or marked example of wares produced there during the period of the renaissance. Modenese artists in terra-cotta worked at Ferrara, and Cristoforo da Modena was _boccalaro_ to the duke of that territory in the sixteenth century. Piccolpasso names Modena as a place where maiolica was produced, but whether of a superior or of a more ordinary kind we are not informed. In the last century Geminiano Cozzi, of that city, was the leading maker of porcelain at Venice about 1765, but the monopoly granted to the fabrique of Sassuolo impeded the manufacture of enamelled wares elsewhere in the duchy. At SASSUOLO, a town prettily situated ten miles to the south of Modena, an establishment for the manufacture of enamelled earthenware was introduced by Gio. Andrea Ferrari in 1741. It would seem that he obtained from the duke Francesco III. the right of making ordinary white and painted maiolica, as the stanniferous enamelled wares were then universally denominated, to the exclusion of all rivals in the duchy and all importation from other parts, except during the fair held at Reggio. The work commenced in 1742, and in a few years he was joined by Gio. Maria Dallari. Their rights were from time to time renewed, and in 1756 confirmed to the extent of granting the monopoly to the family for three generations; the materials were not to be charged with import duty, and the advantages secured to the fabrique were further extended in 1761 by even excluding the foreign wares from the fair at Reggio; the manufacturers on their part being bound to supply the duchy with an abundance of good wares at moderate prices. These wares produced were various, among others finer pieces painted in the Japanese style and with flowers and gilding; groups of figures were also made, and a large export business carried on. From a document in the Archivio della camera di commercio, it would appear that the art was introduced at MANTUA about 1450, and that its workers had their statutes which were altered and amended from time to time; but we are quite unable to judge of the character of the wares produced. They were presumably of an inferior quality, for we have already seen that Isabella D’Este in 1494 procured maiolica for her own use from Ferrara, Urbino, &c., which would argue that the pottery of Mantua was inferior. In the second half of that century Schivenoglia mentions a _bottega di Maioli_, conducted by one Zonan Antonio _Majolaro_, and remains of a furnace with fragments of wares were discovered in 1864 on the _riva al Lago inferiore_, from whence a small plate was procured, painted with a female bust, arabesques, &c. Campori suggests that the _impresa_ adopted by Francesco Gonzaga after the battle of Taro, namely a crucible in a fire and containing ingots of gold, may be a distinguishing mark of the Mantuan faïence even of a later period.