Ewer, Alcora 18th century.

Aguamanil, Alcora 18th century.
In enamelled earthenware.
It has a small restoration on the lid.
Measurements: 53 x 21 x 31 cm.
Great earthenware ewer with a white enamel cover and on this decoration in blue chiaroscuro with motifs of the Bérain series, that is to say, border simulating lace or lace in the wing and in the centre, lambrequins, grotesques and characters, made in the Real Fábrica de Loza de Alcora (Royal Earthenware Factory of Alcora).
The Bérain series owes its name to the creator of this decorative style, Jean Baptiste Bérain (1640-1711). Decorator to the French monarch Louis XIV, he marked the taste of French society in the last third of the 17th century, whose influence spread to the rest of Europe from 1710 with the publication of his work. This style was cultivated in the French ceramic production centre of Moustiers around 1700 and arrived in Alcora thanks to the hiring of professionals from France by the Count of Aranda in the early days of the manufacture. Most of them had been trained at the Clerissy factory in Moustiers.
The shape of the piece is the result of the adaptation of goldsmith's own typologies, due to the fact that the pragmatic measures against luxury that became generalised from the 17th century onwards prohibited the use of precious metals in tableware.
The Alcora manufactory was founded by the Count of Aranda, an enlightened nobleman who founded this factory in imitation of other noblemen and the kings Louis XIV of France, Augustus of Saxony and Charles III of Spain, all of whom were imbued with the ideas that emerged in Europe at the time, the Colbertists and the Enlightenment. Like so many others, he tried to achieve prestige by producing quality products and occupying the subjects of one of his lordships. The earthenware produced by the Count's factory was of a high quality and its decorations were very meticulous. Moreover, Alcora was the first place in Spain to introduce mould production, achieving the unification of shapes and sizes. The piece belongs to the first period of the factory, that is, from 1727 to 1742.