Venice Majolica

Venice majolica, majolica also spelled Maiolica, tin-glazed earthenware made at Venice that reached its stylistic zenith in the 16th century. The workshops of Maestro Ludovico (fl. 1540–45), Domenigo da Venezia (fl. 1550–60), and Jacomo da Pesaro (fl. 1543) produced outstanding ware of this type. Venetian potters excelled in painting arrangements of decorative trophies, globes, musical instruments, and other apparatus, executed in a brilliant linear style in a blue-tinged enamel on a bluish white or white ground, highlighted with opaque white. Another typical design was a dense network of intertwining stems and arabesques. In their preference for blue-and-white enamel decoration, the Venetians showed the influence of Chinese porcelain and Turkish ware.