Eccellenze liguri in Europa tra il XVI e XVII secolo. Analisi archeometriche di provenienza di maioliche liguri in stile compendiario esportate nei Paesi Bassi

Casale, S.; Megens, L.; Jaspers, N.L. (2018)

Article / Letter to editor

This study presents the results of chemical analyses on a specific type of decorated ceramics, the so-called maiolica compendiario, which was produced and traded throughout many areas of Europe between ca. AD 1550 and 1650. Due to the enormous success of the compendiario, and the similarity in the ceramic style amongst different European production centers, faience decorated in compendiario faces many attribution problems (Jaspers 2009; 2012b).

The Dutch soil revealed a large amount and wide range of maiolica decorated in compendiario. Dozens of them have been positively linked to French production (e.g. Nevers and Rouen), the area of central Italy (e.g.. the cities of Faenza and Deruta), and Southern Italy (e.g. Castelli d’Abruzzo and/or Naples/Salerno). However, there is a broad but unique category of compendiario that belongs to one specific homogeneous stylistic group, which has several authentication problems. In previous literature, it was often incorrectly attributed to a provenance in Faenza, the Italian city that invented the style, or to Haarlem/Delft, because Dutch borders contained the most archaeological examples of this compendiario type. Yet, Nina Jaspers claimed, based on stylistic similarities with other Ligurian productions , that this particular group was produced in Liguria (Albisola and Savona); on the northwestern Italian coast (Jaspers 2007a; 2007b; 2007c; 2009; 2012a, 2012b; 2013). In this research, we tested Jaspers’ hypothesis through chemical analysis with a portable-XRF (pXRF) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) on the maiolica paste composition. A large dataset of 200 faience samples from archaeological excavations in Amsterdam, Enkhuizen, Hoorn and ceramic reference material from Italy (Liguria, Venice, Faenza, Naples), France (Nevers) and Portugal were analysed.

The results of the analysis and the comparison of following elemental ratios: Fe/Sr, Zr/Ti for pXRF and La/Sc; Th/Co; La/Cr; Th/Sc; La/Lu; Y/Tb; V/Sc for ICP-MS, provide solid evidence to connect the unique group of compendiario retrieved from Dutch soil to the Ligurian reference materials. Hence, through the interpretation of the trace and rare earth elements values, we confirmed Jaspers’ hypothesis that the majority of imported compendiario in the Netherlands belongs to Ligurian production, rejecting the previous attributions to a production provenance in Faenza, Haarlem or Delft. Moreover, the results from this analysis demonstrated that faience during the 16th and 17th centuries can be analysed and distinguished by the composition of matrix components either with pXRF, being non-invasive, and with micro-destructive analysis with ICP-MS.

This research called for a reconsideration of the European production of compendiario, confuting the previous false attributions, and quantitatively places Ligurian production as one of the most prominent in Europe.

• Archaeometry
• Post Middle Age Archaeology
• Provenance Analysis
• Ceramic analysis

• All authors: Casale, S.; Megens, L.; Jaspers, N.L.
• Date: 2018
• Journal: Rivista di Studi Liguri
• Volume: LXXX-LXXXI (2014-2015)
• Pages: 217 - 228