History of Montelupo Ceramics

Montelupo (later Montelupo Fiorentino) is a small town of medieval origin, whose buildings, such as the castle, owed their existence to the spread of the Florentine community, which focused at the beginning of the thirteenth century on the area along the valley of the Arno.

Archaic majolica

At the start of the second half of the thirteenth century in Montelupo, was the beginning of the production of archaic majolica. These first labours with enameled glazing (lead oxide and ferrous oxide, “fused” together by a “heating process”, that is a component obtained from the fusion of siliceous sand) are, on the whole, similar to those carried out in various locations in Tuscany (Pisa, Florence, Bacchereto, Pistoia, etc.), and the work seems to resemble, in particular, regarding the range and style of decoration, the production of enameled work done in Catalonia, in the Balearic Islands and in Provence.