MaiolicaFortnum, C. Drury E. (Charles Drury Edward)
History
Maiolica
Fortnum, C. Drury E. (Charles Drury Edward)
Majolica
We next have the author of the fine plateau, no. 7158, and of the better
examples of those abundant pieces having central subjects painted in a
greenish yellow tone on the _berettino_, or coats of arms emblazoned,
and wide borders covered with grotesques in a lighter tone heightened
with white on the dark blue ground. This artist also ventured into
bolder subjects upon plaques of considerable size, two of which, one
representing the Adoration of the Magi, are in the British museum; over
a portico which forms a background to the composition, the crossed
circle and pellet, mark of the fabrique, and the date 1527 are
inscribed, while on the reverse is a yellow roundel between the letters
B. B. F. F. and the same date. Rather earlier, is the plate (in the
woodcut p. 168) which although by some attributed to Caffaggiolo, is
probably of Faenza. The richly decorated back leads to this conclusion.
Not to be confounded with these masters, the last of whom by way of
distinction is known among amateurs as the “green man,” are works by a
more able artist who painted in colours of the richest tone with
admirable disposition and vigorous design, and who also signed with the
same initials. The finely treated subject of the Gathering of the Manna,
on the plate no. 7680, is by this hand, whose works are neither
ornamented at the back, nor signed with the mark of the fabrique.
[Illustration]
B. The first notice we have of Baldasara Manara occurs in Zani’s
“Enciclopedia Metodica,” in which work, under the name of _Mannara_, he
refers to the signature of the artist upon a _sotto coppa_ with the
accompanying mark. This tazza, now in the possession of the writer, is
perhaps the most important signed example known, and represents the
triumph of Time; it is one of a service decorated with orange scale-work
on the yellow ground of the reverse, and of which other pieces still
exist.
C. Wanting the inscribed name of the locality at which they were
painted, we are quite prepared to acquiesce in the maturely considered
opinion of signor Lazari, that the beautiful service, 17 pieces of which
are in the Museo Correr at Venice, and other works painted by the same
admirable early artist were produced at Faenza. They perfectly agree
with the qualities lauded by Garzoni at the approximate period of their
production, one of them being dated 1482; and no wares of that period
could in their qualities of enamel be more worthy of the expression
_bianche polite_ than the pieces of this service. We have no clue to the
name of the painter. That they were the production of a botega distinct
from the Casa Pirota seems assured, from their dissimilarity in
technical quality and style of ornamentation to the wares of that
productive house, and the absence of its distinctive mark; but there is
great similarity in their glaze and other details to the pieces painted
by another excellent hand who signs with the letters F. R.
[Illustration]
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