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Bensu Ceramic specializes in the decoration of tiles painter by hand, using the Majolica Method, reproducing antique and creating new designs.
ABOUT MY BOOK
Sadly this beautiful method is dying out so I have written a book about it in the hope, that in some way, it will help it to continue. The book is called “The Majolica Method”, it is in two parts the first goes through the method of working step by step and the second is a glossary on everything that can be used with it, from glaze textures to filing drawings, it has lots of illustrations, photos and drawings.
If you are interested it can be bought through Internet and downloaded at the price of $9,99
The Majolica Method
THE MAJOLICA METHOD
The Majolica Method developed from luster and the methods of working are still basically the same. The changes came with the increase in production and cheapening materials, they found ways of making colors without using valuable metals. Plates, pots, tiles for walls, floors, and ceilings were all being produced. It became an illustrated method of informing the illiterate public—decorations on church walls told Bible stories; chemist pots with plants and their Latin names; craftsmen and workmen doing everyday jobs; tiles showed the process of making wine, bread, oil, and many other specialties. The number of luster makers increased, as it was being made not only for the wealthy families, but also for merchants, townspeople, religious communities and exported to the Mediterranean and the Low Countries.
It started in Malaga in the 13th century and spread to Valencia, which at the end of the 14th century became the center of the ceramics industry. Then to other Spanish towns such as Talavera, Barcelona and to parts of Europe. It developed in Italy during the 15th century in the towns of Deruta and Gubbio, creating beautiful work with different designs and colors. Using dark backgrounds and the colors in a much more subtle way, the Italians became perfectionists in their work, in contrast to the more free and liberal brush-strokes used in Spain. It spread to other parts of Europe in the 16th century, Holland; where it was known as Delft, France as Faience and then to England in the 17th century, where it lasted about one hundred and fifty years and was known by the name of Lambeth which now is called Majolica.
The word azulejo, which means tile in Spanish, originates from this tradition. Azul means blue and lejos means far off. Today, azulejo means tile and, translated literally, means blue-distance—a color to be seen from far off.
What makes this method different from others it that the glaze-base and the colors are fired together, it needs two firings: the first one is to fire the clay, the clay turns into a ceramic when fired at 600º C or more, the higher the temperature, the stronger it becomes and changes into a material that is solid, breakable but still porous and is known as bisque. For the second firing the bisque fired pieces are covered with a layer of a white opaque glaze-base. The designs are marked onto the glaze-base with vegetable ash, after which the pieces are painted. Finally the glaze-base and decoration are fired together and vitrify at 980º C. The vitrifying makes the glaze-base an opaque layer of glass and this stops the bisque being porous. The result is a brightly colored, glossy surface that maintains and enhances the lines and integrates the different colors to form others and which accentuates the qualities of the decoration.