Majolica is earthenware pottery with molded, raised decoration covered in bright, glossy colored glazes. Think leafy plates, pitchers shaped like fish or corn, and birds perched among cattails in deep greens, browns, yellows and turquoise. It was one of the great crazes of the Victorian era, and its look has been copied ever since. Here's what majolica is, who made it and how to tell the antique from later majolica style pieces.
Two kinds of pottery share the name
The older kind is Italian maiolica, the painted, tin-glazed pottery of the Renaissance. Its name is usually traced to the island of Majorca, a stop on the trade route that brought Spanish pottery to Italy.
The kind most collectors mean today is Victorian majolica. The English firm Minton introduced it at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, using colored lead glazes developed by its art director, Léon Arnoux. Instead of painting a picture on a flat surface, the potter molded the design in relief and flooded it with color.
Who made it
- England: Minton, Wedgwood and George Jones are the best-known names.
- United States: Griffen, Smith & Hill of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, made Etruscan Majolica in the 1880s, including its well-known shell and seaweed pattern.
- France and Portugal: Sarreguemines in France and the potteries of Caldas da Rainha in Portugal made their own versions. Portuguese cabbage leaf ware is still made today.
Majolica was at its most popular from the 1850s through the 1880s and had gone out of fashion by about 1900.
What it looks like
- Shapes and patterns taken from nature: leaves, ferns, shells, fish, birds, flowers, fruit and vegetables.
- Raised decoration you can feel with your fingers.
- Thick, shiny glazes in rich colors that often run and blend into each other.
- Handles shaped like twigs, branches or bamboo.
Majolica and majolica style
Potteries in Italy, Portugal, Japan and the United States kept making pieces in the majolica look through the twentieth century, and some still do. A careful seller will call an unmarked or later piece majolica style. These pieces are decorative, usually much less expensive than Victorian majolica, and a good way to get the look.
How to tell older pieces from later ones
- Look for a mark. The major English makers usually impressed their names into the base, and Etruscan Majolica carries a GSH monogram. Many genuine pieces were never marked, though.
- Look at the molding. On good Victorian pieces the details are crisp and the colors stay where they belong. Later pieces are often softer in detail, with looser glazing.
- Look at the underside. Victorian makers usually glazed the base, often in a solid or mottled color. A plain white or unglazed base often points to a later piece.
- Feel the weight. Later pieces often feel lighter and thinner than Victorian ones.
No single clue settles it. Collectors weigh all of them together.
What to check before you buy
- Run a fingertip over the high points, such as leaf tips, beaks, rims and spouts. That's where chips happen.
- Hold the piece up to the light and look for hairline cracks. Fine crazing in the glaze is common with age.
- Watch for patches where the shine or color doesn't match. That can be a sign of an old repair.
Using and caring for majolica
Victorian majolica was made with lead glazes, so treat antique pieces as decoration and don't serve food or drinks in them. Wash by hand in warm, soapy water, dry right away and never soak. Earthenware is porous, and water can get in wherever the glaze is chipped or crazed. Skip the dishwasher and the microwave.
Majolica in the shop
We currently have a large majolica style pitcher with an embossed bird and cattails and a majolica frog planter. You can also browse our vintage home decor for more one-of-a-kind pieces. Every piece is the only one we have.