Antique Grottaglie Plate 1800s
ambiantA 19th-century scalloped plate from Grottaglie in Puglia, southern Italy.
Known as robba bianca, this pottery is distinguished by its ivory-toned white tin glaze. Although rooted in the tradition of everyday folk pottery, it was made with a more considered and refined process.
The gently undulating rim is one of the characteristic designs found in Grottaglie robba bianca.
Smaller examples measuring around 21.5 cm in diameter are not often encountered, even locally. This is a particularly special piece to us.
- Size
- φ21.5 × H4.5 cm
- Country
- Italy
- Origin
- Grottaglie, Puglia
- Estimated age
- 19th century
- No.
- AN-8173
Robba Bianca
"Robba bianca," meaning "white things" in Italian, is a significant category in the ceramic history of Grottaglie, Puglia, in Southern Italy. It symbolizes the technological maturity and refinement of lifestyle culture since the late 16th century.
Its foundation lies in a production system connected to the Majolica technique, which involves applying an opaque white glaze containing tin oxide (tin-glaze) and completing the piece through two firings. However, unlike the ornate Majolica known for its painted decorations, Robba Bianca suppresses decorativeness, positioning itself as a regional and practical evolution that finds value in the form of the vessel itself and the texture of the white glaze.
The beauty of this style lies in the contrast between the strong red earth (terra rossa) nurtured by the Puglia land and the soft white glaze that embraces it. The warmth of the clay faintly perceived beneath the glaze layer, or the reddish-brown clay body that peeks through the rim and foot after years of use, quietly tells the story of this land's unique expression of white.
Location
Grottaglie, Puglia / ItalySIMILAR AVAILABLE PIECES
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