Tin-glazed Earthenware
 

Tin-glazed earthenware together with pottery, stoneware and porcelain make up the four main types of ceramics in traditional use. Pottery is dipped in a glaze made with tin which after firing ensures a certain impermeability to liquids and also provides an opaque white surface ideal for coloured decoration. Tin glaze was discovered in Mesopotamia in the IXth century AD. It reached Spain in the XI and XIIth centuries under the Moors (Hispano-Moresque pottery) and from there was transmitted to Italy (c.1200-1250) where it was known as maiolica and greatly influenced ceramic production in Europe well into the XVIth century. The maiolica techniques were adopted across Europe, spreading into Holland where a specific blue and white style developed in the mid-XVIIth century centred around the town of Delft. Over the next centuries, the technique together with enamel painting over the fired glaze, dominated European production and saw the burgeoning of centres across France, Germany, Spain and Scandinavia where it became known as Faïence.

The museum has a rich collection of maiolica and faïence that amply illustrates development of tin-glazed ware from its earliest beginnings onwards. The XIXth century is particularly well represented with works collected originally by the museum’s founder Adrien Dubouché.

© Musée national Adrien Dubouché - RMN