The catalog to the Majolica Mania exhibition has finally been released after a considerable delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibition, which opens in September 2021, will be making stops at the Bard Graduate Center, New York; the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent.
To describe the work merely as a show catalog does a disservice to the exceptional scholarly work that the Bard Graduate Center has released. This is a major addition to the literature on majolica, one that will certainly remain the definitive work on the subject for many years.
The three volumes are masterly, well written with nicely photographed illustrations. The books are wonderful in the ground they cover which is mainly the larger English and American manufacturers and their influence on the pottery of 19th century England and America. The American section adds so much information that has previously been overlooked that it alone is worth the price of purchase, which is significant.
The catalog comes in a set of three volumes with a slip cover. While the slip cover itself is poorly designed its approach is fortunately not repeated between the covers of the books. The interior design is serviceable and easy to read. The set is substantial and printed on heavy, glazed stock. The illustrations are large and of very good quality. Sources are credited with a liberal use of footnotes.
Each of the three volumes cover different ground. Volume 1 gives an overall look at the topic from the foundation of the ware at the Minton factory to its fall from fashion 65 years later. It is divided into ten chapters dedicated to historical overview, influences and commercial manufacturing issues including plumbism which ultimately contributed to the ware being discontinued.
Volume 2, which is the largest of the three volumes, covers the work of the large English manufacturers. It is broken down into 17 chapters with each discussing the work of different manufacturers with some manufacturers covered by more than one chapter. Histories are given for each company with copious examples of facilities, style books and majolica illustrating the chapters. There are also parallels discussed between subjects which offer easy comparison. The final chapter of the volume is devoted to the work of smaller potters, though not illustrated as liberally as some of the other chapters. While some of Volume 2’s information has already seen the light of day through numerous other works on the subject, including this blog, bringing it all together in one tome makes for a excellent reference on the topic.
I was sorry to see that a large volume of unmarked English majolica from small companies has been omitted. This does a disservice to the topic. Majolica was made in quantity by many, many manufacturers. I was hoping that the researchers for the catalog would have included more information on the smaller English companies of which so little is known. While the craftsmanship of these small companies may not have matched that of the large English companies, the output was prolific. Their designs are beautiful, clever and strongly evocative of the period. There is a list of many of these manufacturers in Victoria Bergesen’s book “Majolica: British, Continental and American Wares, 1851-1915" which show how pervasive majolica manufacture was in Great Britain.
Volume 3 on American majolica is the strongest addition to the literature on majolica. So little has been known about American manufacturers the topic was ripe for discovery. It is divided into seven chapters which, like Volume 2, each address the work and history of a different company.
The chapter on Carr’s New York City pottery is a revelation. Numerous examples, some from Carr’s descendants, see the light of day for the first time in 150 years. It is marvelous to see them after decades of curiosity about the company’s output.
The chapter on GSH is well done. The footnotes citing my book, “Etruscan Majolica: The definitive reference to the majolica of Griffen, Smith & Company,” are numerous and well appreciated. There are some mistakes, of course, as one might expect as in any large endeavor as this. There are modern reproduction asparagus mugs shown in Vol.3, P.58 that were never made by the company that are from the collection of the Chester County Historical Society. There is also a misidentification in one of the company photographs in Vol.3, P.47. They identify the two men in the photograph as Henry and George Griffen. The two men pictured are Henry Griffen and David Smith. That is easily discerned by looking at the earlier photograph of the factory workers on page 29 of the same volume. Also, the copy of the 1884 catalog cover shown is one from the Phoenixville Historical Society that was defaced by text added for the 1960 reprint. To see the catalog cover as it was originally printed, from my personal collection, you can reference P.126 in the most recent edition of my Etruscan book.
In the section describing the wares of the Willets Manufacturing Company there is a vague attribution of the fan pieces in Vol.3, P.77 to Shorter & Boulton. As I have written in this blog the design was certainly by Shorter & Boulton as can be attested to the fan ice cream dish with an English registration mark that I show, but I guess I am really quibbling over minutia. It is a fine work on American majolica and one that is very welcome after so many years of general ignorance on the subject.
The back of Volume 3 is devoted to a checklist on items appearing in the exhibition, as well as a glossary, selective bibliography and information about the authors and photographic credits. There is also a complete index.
As a long time collector and dealer in the topic, I am thrilled to have such a lovely reference in my library. I’m sure I speak for all collectors in thanking the Bard Graduate Center and Walters Art Museum for such a fine set.
Published by Bard Center, Yale University Press. 1008 pages. All pages © 2020 Bard Graduate Center and Walters Art Museum
