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 The Castelli majolica - An historycal and artistic synthesis
Castellian ceramic art, which became famous in the sixteenth
century, appears to have extremely antique origins. It was
probably the Benedictine monks, before the Valle Siciliana
feudatories, who first introduced glazed ceramics around the 12th
century.
However, the present center of Castelli has only developed as a
town, and thus economically, since the fifteenth century. The
early production of "engobed and engraved" ceramic and the
archeological digs carried out in the drains of the antique kilns
confirm the growth of an industrial-type system which was already
widespread in the first half of the 15th century.
The engobing technique, which consisted of a coating of ceramic
bisque using an earthy liquid dough which was then colored and
"graffito" (engraved), was soon followed by the majolic
production. This differed from the first in that an expensive
glaze was applied to the bisque thus appealing more to wealthy
clients. Right from the start, the production methods, which
combined economy and quality with innovative techniques, made
Castelli one of the most renowned and esteemed centers of the
Renaissance.
 The use of engobing, for example, under the enamel
meant the majolica was much whiter and consequently less enamel
was needed. The particular technique of the
"breathing" oven, recently studied by researchers at the C.N.R.
(National Research Council), led to a marked reduction in the use
of wood because the fumes given off were used again in the
combustion process. The simple but genial solution of painting
only the outward-face of pharmacy pots or others used for show
whilst leaving the backs quickly but effectively decorated halved
the time it took to produce them.
Finally, the plentiful supply of
wood, clay and water necessary to mill the stanniferous powder for
the enamel were all characteristic of the economy of a place
which, today, would seem too far from the markets, cut off from
present means of communication and incredibly isolated amongst the
mountains. Nevertheless, already at the beginning of the 16th
century, Castelli had overcome its phase of imitating Umbrian
products and was creating its own iconographic and morphological
collection directed at high level buyers in a European market. Courtesy of
Regione Abruzzo Tourist Office
(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
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