Ewer; Manises, 19th century

Aguamanil; Manises, 19th century.
Ceramic with decoration
The lid has been broken and restored.
It has flaws in the enamel and chips on the lip and edges.
Measurements: 68 x 33 cm.
The piece has the classic colours used by the Manises factory, such as cobalt blue and yellow. This colour scheme, introduced by the Islamic potters in medieval Spain together with the metallic lustre and the green and manganese style, appeared in Paterna at the end of the Middle Ages, and would be the most characteristic throughout Europe until the first half of the 18th century, when the secret of porcelain was discovered. The blue and white decoration was an attempt to imitate Chinese porcelain, which the Arabs were familiar with and used to make. Paterna was, along with Manises, the great centre of Islamic-influenced Hispanic ceramics, so it is not unusual for this new style to have its beginnings here. The blue glaze used by the Chinese is cobalt, a high-temperature glaze, which is why it is always applied under the glaze. In Islamic and Hispano-Muslim ceramics it will be called 'alsafra', a word derived from the Arabic word for cobalt. In the last quarter of the 14th century it began to be used in Paterna, and gradually replaced the green and manganese decorated series in these potteries. From this time onwards, the source of inspiration was no longer Muslim ceramics, but Chinese porcelain, with three firings: one for the paste, another for the white slip and finally the third for the enamel, the colours and the glaze. The decoration, on the other hand, becomes more abstract, and in the case of pieces with figurative decoration, this will only have half-length figures, with less defined backgrounds and a lesser spatial sense. They will be objects decorated with very linear lines.