Topic: Do you know anything about this bowl?

[Jessicajil]

I inherited this bowl from an aunt, but the 'packers'  just wrapped it loosely with two other old bowls, and it did not (unsurprisingly) survive . There are no marks on the base, it has greyish white glaze, over a white clay (visible on the broken edge)
Someone said it might be Portuguese, but I wondered if it was Spanish as I also inherited another bowl which was apparently Spanish but, I think, quite a lot older and more crudely made.

[Tigerchips]

A photo of the base and a close up photo of any part of the base might reveal something. The colours look Portuguese for sure. It looks old but it's difficult to tell from here, lol.

[antiquerose123]

Can we have a pic of the base TC?  What is that in the bottom of the dish - A leaf, or a Fish??

Thanks

[Jessicajil]

Here are photos of the base and the motif.  I think the latter is a fish.
The colour of the white glaze isn't quite right in the pictures, it has a greyish-blue tinge, and the surface is pitted.
Are these photos good enough for you to see what you wanted?

[Tigerchips]

Well, i'm no expert on Portuguese Maiolica but it looks like it could be around 70-100 years old. I don't think it's earlier than that as there is too much pitting.

[Jessicajil]

What is the significance of the pitting?  Did they change the way they glazed  them or fired them around that time?  Would it just have been for domestic use or would it have been exported to the UK do you know?

[Tigerchips]

I think it would have been exported to the uk. 16th century Maiolica doesn't have this much pitting, i'm just getting the info from a book, as i say, i'm no expert.

[Jessicajil]

After your posting, I tried looking up Victorian majolica, and contacted a site specialising in it and they said that it isn't Victorian majolica, but gave me no further information.

[Tigerchips]

There's a difference between Italian Maiolica and English majolica. If they specialized in English Majolica then that might not be the right website to contact. 

[Jessicajil]

I've a lot to learn!

[Tigerchips]

I've a lot to learn!

Lol, me too.

[Jessicajil]

I have found out what it is!    It's a 20th century Spanish Faience Bowl.  
This what they said
'Faience is a pottery technique where a terracotta body is covered by a glaze which includes tin oxide to give an opaque white ground. This technique was originally used to imitate Chinese porcelain before the secret of the method of making porcelain was discovered. The collectors of Faience want C17th or C18th pieces, sadly the market for C20th pieces is fairly limited.'
There's one on the web here and, though it is not as nice as mine, you can see that it comes from the same sort of source?
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/5522463

[antiquerose123]