majolica

Dictionary: ma·jol·i·ca (mə-jŏl'ĭ-kə, -yŏl'-) pronunciation

Tin-glazed earthenware that is often richly colored and decorated, especially an earthenware of this type produced in Italy.
Pottery made in imitation of this earthenware.

[Italian maiolica, from Medieval Latin Māiōlica, Majorca (where it was made), alteration of Late Latin Māiōrica.]

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: majolica

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Tin-glazed earthenware introduced from Moorish Spain by way of the island of Majorca and produced in Italy from the 14th century. Majolica is usually restricted to five colours: cobalt blue, antimony yellow, iron red, copper green, and manganese purple; the purple and blue were used, at various periods, mainly for outline. White tin enamel was used also, for highlights or alone on the white tin glaze. The most common shape of the pottery was a display dish, decorated in the istoriato style, a 16th-century Italian narrative style that uses the pottery body solely as support for a purely pictorial effect. See also delftware; Faenza majolica; faience; Urbino majolica.

For more information on majolica, visit Britannica.com.

Architecture: majolica

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A type of pottery decorated with an opaque white glaze and a colored overglaze; a type of faïence tile.

Columbia Encyclopedia: majolica

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majolica (məjŏl'ĭkə, məyŏl'-) or maiolica (məyŏl'ĭkə) [from Majorca], type of faience usually associated with wares produced in Spain, Italy, and Mexico. The process of making majolica consists of first firing a piece of earthenware, then applying a tin enamel that upon drying forms a white opaque porous surface. A design is then painted on and a transparent glaze applied. Finally the piece is fired again. This type of ware was produced in the ancient Middle East by the Babylonians, and the method remained continuously in use. It was extensively employed by the Hispano-Moresque potters of the 14th cent. By the mid-15th cent. majolica was popular in Italy, where it became justly famous through the decorations of the Della Robbia family. The method is still widely used in folk art.

Bibliography

See G. Liverani, Five Centuries of Italian Majolica (tr. 1960); M. Barnes and R. May, Mexican Majolica in Northern New Spain (1980).

Wikipedia: Majolica

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Majolica or maiolica may refer to:

Maiolica - ceramics from Renaissance Italy with an opaque, white glaze containing carbon dioxide, usually painted in several colors, sometimes called majolica in English-speaking countries.

Victorian majolica - ceramics made in 19th century Britain, Europe and the USA with molded surfaces and colorful lead glazes.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

A modern Majolica plate of Caltagirone, Sicily. Painted in cobalt blue monochrome

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majolica

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	earthenware
	faïence tile
	Caltagirone (city, Italy)

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Copyrights:

		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Majolica". Read more