Cipriano Piccolpasso

Majolica artists and art historians owe homage to the renaissance potter, Cavaliere Cipriano Piccolpasso who in 1557 wrote The Three Books of the Potter’s Art. He illustrated his treatise with carefully detailed drawings of all aspects of the process of creating ceramics, Italian renaissance style. His documentation of the craft is invaluable. Much of what we know today about the process and the important majolica artists of the renaissance period is gleaned from information Piccolpasso set forth in his books.
These books are housed in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The following images are reproductions of drawings by Piccolpasso, which he used to illustrate his treatise.

This page illustrates the "digging of the clay." Note the figures in the lower left, gathering clay from the riverside.

 

Page with text and image of the potters, making the shapes on the wheels.

 

Enlarged version

 

This page describes and names the various shapes to make.

 

Page with text and image of the majolica painters

 

Enlargement of drawing

 

Drawings of the designs for the front and backsides of a platter:
The left is the topside, with trophy design, and the right is the underside, with grotesque design.

 

A very popular item made in renaissance times was the "Pilgrim"s flask.
This page diagrams how to make the screw top of the bottle in clay.

 

Firing the kiln

 

Stoking and firing the kiln

 

This illustrates the process of kiln firing.
Note the kiln master in the foreground directing the work and timing the firing with his hourglass.
Also note the well in the lower right. Workshop fires were not infrequent for potteries in the 14th century.