The Cinquecento Table

A number of centres of excellence in the “arts of fire” – pottery and glass factories which exported their wares throughout Europe – sprang up in sixteenth-century Italy. Murano became known for its glassware, Faenza, Venice, Deruta, Gubbio, Casteldurante, Urbino and others for majolica. Historiation – painted decorations with stories – triumphed in the first half of the century, while Faenza whiteware came to the fore in the second. Francesco Durantino, a potter from Casteldurante (an important production centre in the Marche), was active in Turin. He entered the service of Duke Emmanuel Philibert, and the perforated cup we see here, dated 12 September 1577, may be by him.