This potpourri belongs to a remarkable and rare group of terraglia or creamware wares of a technique unique to the Giustiniani factory and said to be inspired by the coloured tessera of antique mosaics.

Only a few other examples are known. A vase of calyx-krater form in the Museo Artistico Industriale di Napoli, measuring 37cm tall is illustrated Rotili, 1967, plate XXIV and again in ‘La Terraglia Napoletana’, Guido Donatone, 1991, plate 156.

A desk set in a similar technique formed as an inkwell, pounce pot and chamber stick on a tray made from ‘various pieces of pottery mimicking mosaic’ was presented for the first time at the 1826 Exhibition from Fabbrica di Biagio Giustiniani. (Donatone, 1991, colour plate 20 a).

The Giustiniani factory was established in the second half of the 18^th century by a family of potters and under the management of Biagio Giustiniani had by 1820 to 1840 had grown to employ 60 skilled artists and 120 other workers. Under Biagio the factory had become famous for its wares inspired by the excavated wares of Pompeii and Herculaneum. They also decorated their wares with local scenes and figures in traditional costume.

Condition:
Broken and restored

References:
Rotili 1967
Mario Rotili, La Manifattura Giustiniani, Museo del Sannio, 1967,

Donatone 1991
Guido Donatone, La Terraglia Napoletana (1782-1860), 1991

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