Faience Pottery
Faiences were produced in the Middle East as early as the 4th century. Taken by the Moors to Spain, the craft was eventually carried to Italy where during the Renaissance Faenza became a centre for this style of pottery. By the 1500s faience was being produced in Lyon and Rouen, then Lille and the southern part of France. Faience is an earthenware style of pottery fired to below 1000 degrees centigrade thus, in the past, requiring lead in the glaze mixture to reduce the firing temperature of the components and the colouring oxides so as to produce a brilliant but limited range of colours (Dubois 2007). This paper traces the development of the faience industry in a small town south of Toulouse in France. Emphasis is placed on the social and historical contexts in which this development took place.
The popularity of faience as tableware was ensured when Louis XIV pronounced his Edits Sompticaires in which all silver and gold table ware was to be melted down to finance his wars. The precious metal plate was replaced by faience pottery. In the 18 th century potteries were established at Martres Tolosane in the Haute Garonne, the first of these in 1737 when Seignier Jean Francoise de Sarrieu granted permission for Claude Leconte, a faience merchant originally from Nevers to build a factory. The potteries have been active continuously since. However with the Industrial Revolution in Britain, the discovery of kaolin deposits there and advances made in high fired porcelain, faience fell out of fashion for a time. Near Martres Tolosane clay and limestone were mined, and tin glazes were produced that highlighted the colours achieved from a small range of oxides: blue from cobalt, yellow from antimony and lead oxide, violet from manganese, green from copper and red from iron.
Forms were made in a range of ways, from hand thrown to moulded in press moulds and slip moulded or Barbotine . When dry, these were then biscuit fired at about 800 degrees centigrade. Decoration was applied over a coat of white tin glaze by hand. The heritage of traditional motifs of the ibis, the rustic countryside and flower patterns, and grotesques is continued on today but decoration varies from piece to piece as they are all painted by hand. At times a paper stencil was used for difficult motifs. The stencil ( poncif ) was made up of pin pricks that when stamped by a pad full of powdered charcoal left a light drawing of the motif to be painted. A fine brush, said to be made from the eyelashes of cows, allowed flowing lines and flourishes. Then the piece had its final firing in le grand feu of 900-1000 degrees centigrade.
The earliest known piece in existence from Martres Tolosane dates from 1739 and can be found in the French National Museum of Ceramics at Sevres. It is a beard dish with a central motif of a castle surrounded by decorative floral patterns in blue on white ground and dated and signed by the maker, Joseph Delondre, an itinerant painter of ceramics.
Brilliant colours from several oxides on tin oxide underglaze
Martres Tolosane
At Martres Tolosane today it is possible to find nine different ateliers or potteries. A number of these are easily accessible as one winds one's way along the narrow spiralling streets that lead to the heart of the old walled village. In the village centre is the museum, Angonia. The museum is housed in three beautifully restored medieval half timbered buildings in the central square of the 13 th century St Vidian's Church. The excellent displays made up of both multimedia and artefacts are developed and arranged to educate visitors about the town's patrimonie . This includes the heritage of the Roman settlement of the area uncovered nearby in the Villa Gallo-Romaine de Chiragan , the Martyrs of Tolosane and Saint Vidian, and the history and development of faience in the town. With the pottery set out chronologically in the display cases, it is possible to follow the different influences on the pottery over this 270 year history (Bord-Levere 2006).
The ateliers in the centre of town are small pottery studios and shops. Some appear only to decorate the biscuit ware on site, some mould, turn and glaze. All firing today is done by electric kilns. In this part of the country electricity is a renewable or green energy as it is produced as hydroelectricity from the many barrages across the rivers, principally the Garonne, as the water comes tumbling down from the Pyrenees. This hydroelectricity is then fed into the national grid. The firing of faiences has been electric since the 1950s. The electric kilns ensure a clean firing and careful control of temperatures which is crucial to achieving the traditional colours from a limited number of oxides.
I was able to get a better sense of the traditional potteries when I visited Matet's Pottery just a kilometre out of town. Here in the original buildings one gets an idea of the scale of production in past times. The old wood fired four was a huge vaulted structure built within the main workshop. The fire boxes were accessed from without the workshop. Even with a number of artisans working it would take many weeks to fill this kiln. The brick structure was later lined with fire bricks to make it more efficient. For each firing and unloading, the door was bricked up and taken down again. Spy holes were left to observe the progress of the firing. Originally, the glazed wares were placed in saggers or gazettes to prevent their glazes from being spoilt by smoke and ash during the firing. This was no longer necessary after the introduction of electric kilns. The earthenware clay, both red and white, is no longer dug locally but is shipped in from Toulouse in ready to use bags of about 10 kilos and in powdered form to make up slip. British potter Michael Cardew wrote of the importance of potters sourcing their own raw materials. For Matet's and many small potteries today around the world this is no longer economically viable.
The artisan with whom I spoke still used an original kick wheel for turning wares for finishing when they were removed from the press moulds. Turntables were used for decoration. He demonstrated how even handles were press moulded from a roll of clay and quickly made a number to attach to the cups he had finished turning. It seems much of the sensory and aesthetic qualities of working with clay are lost through these processes. Quite different to my experiences in a pottery where we weighed and wedged a hundred small balls of clay and pulled a hundred handles before lunch. Stuck along the edges of tables and benches in graceful loops they firmed up nicely over lunch, to be cut off and attached to cups, mugs and jugs in the afternoon. A quick sponge and the wares were put to dry. These daily rhythms that form part of the production cycle create a harmony in pottery that is not equalled in other crafts.
Matet's is a fairly recent pottery by Martres' standards being founded more than 100 years after the earliest ones. Jean Pierre Darnaud built the pottery at the current site in 1864. It was well placed on a major road, close to the forest where wood was cut for the kilns and close to clay deposits. Unlike other potteries, the Matet Pottery didn't remain in one family. It passed through many hands before the current ownership. Marie Stephanie Frejevu, and her husband Carlo Rocca, inherited it from her grand father in 1976 (Carbare & Farines 2006).
The Artisans and Journeymen
The site of the town of Martres Tolasane was beneficial for manufacturing being as it was close to the banks of the major waterway, the Garonne River. It was this river that encouraged the Romans to build great settlements such as Toulouse near here. Because of the ease of moving barges full of men and supplies from its mouth at Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast and close to the British Channel, the Garonne was a major transport artery across France towards the Mediterranean and Italy, and south to the crossings over the Pyrenees to Spain. For Napoleon it was La Route Imperiale from Toulouse, over the mountains at Luchon and into Spain for his armies. As a result many local boys and pottery workers were conscripted to replenish his armies as they passed through, and the hospital nursed those who returned.
While Martres Tolosane had its own forests to supply its kilns and its own deposits of clay further supplies could be shipped in without trouble and finished products moved out. Artisans were itinerant in the 18 th century and travelled to wherever they could find work and moved on when it was finished. They specialised according to their trade and skills. The turner ( le tourneur ) threw and turned. The moulder ( le mouleur ) poured the slip into the moulds or press moulded the green ware. Painters ( les peintres ) decorated and glazed. Kiln masters ( maitres du feu ) built and fired kilns. The community of potters who lived along the Rue de l'Hopital in Martres where Claude Leconte established his pottery probably carried their wares to a four banal fired by the community kiln master. At the peak of faience making in the late 18 th century four or five kilns existed in the town. These kilns were somewhat like the neighbourhood ovens that were fired up several times a week on baking day to cook the bread, and on feast days and Sundays to cook the joint of meat, that I have seen in villages in Wales and also in France. The still existent four banal in Salies du Salat not thirty kilometres from Martres Tolosane was used to cook the village bread and meat and to fire pottery in Medieval times.
The work day of the journeymen ( journaliers ) who dug and carted clay or collected the faggots of wood from les forestiers and carted them to town was long and hard. In winter time they set off in the dark in freezing weather with their horse or mule and cart, and arrived home again just before dark to tend to their horses and look forward to their evening meal of soup and bread, the standard fare at the time. Journeymen were either paid each day when they delivered their loads of wood or clay or could be paid yearly by the factories where they carried out a range of duties other than carting supplies (Carbare & Farines 2006).
The Future of Faience in Martres Tolosane
Today technology has changed how the artisans produce their wares. They can work in a small spaced divided simply into retail and studio areas. While the forms and style of decoration are true to the long traditions of the town, advances in glaze chemistry have ensured that lead is no longer required to reduce the firing temperature of the other glaze components. The simple use of a limited range of oxides to achieve the traditional colours has been expanded with the development of brush-on glazes and slips ensuring ease of application and reliability. Electric kilns also ensure consistent, successful outcomes.
Two artisans to whom I spoke said they had worked in factories where they had been trained. They followed the traditions very closely. One painter I observed working had moved away from purely traditional forms and styles of decoration and had introduced a poppy motif to her wares. As an outsider it seems to me that on the whole the artisans had rediscovered and were keeping alive a tradition that was central to the town's view of its identity and history. Through attracting tourism they were making a major contribution to the town's continued economic viability and growth.
What of the future for faience in Martres Tolosane? Until the second half of the 20 th century, the forms and decoration of faiences here had always responded to the tastes and fashions of the time. The earliest wares were predominantly blue and white reflecting the imported Chinese porcelain that also influenced Dutch and British pottery. Motifs also were appropriated from Chinese wares. The ibis motif first appeared on martrais pottery at this time. Itinerant artisans brought motifs and glazes with them from their cities of origin. So styles of wares are known as Moustiers, Montpellier, Marseille, Strasbourg or Rouen. Also in the 18 th century the motif of the potato flower was introduced. At the end of the famine during the reign of Louis XV this vegetable was made available to the French people, hence its link with table ware (Carbare & Farines 2006). A return to antique styles influenced decoration at the close of the 18 th century in the so-called neo-classical period (Dubois 2007).
In the 19 th century polychrome wares became the most popular with a range of motifs including flowers and birds, rustic scenes, and grotesques inspired by the works of 17 th century lithographer Jean Berain. Fine, graceful lines and arabesques were derived from Moorish Spain. The fashion that saw the revival of the work of 17 th century Italian painter and engraver Antonio Tempesta inspired scenes from the bible, of the hunt, of battles and mythology (Carbare & Farines 2006).
In the early half of the 20 th century influences of the British Arts and Crafts Movement and the ensuing Art Nouveau period can be seen in some of the works at Matet. A return to earlier Chinoiserie and Japonaiserie which at the time was influencing painting in Paris is also evident. Marie-Louise Kessler a painter of ceramics from Nevers worked at Matet in the 1950s. Some of her work, particularly the Rhodes pattern draws strongly on the style of the Arts and Crafts Movement.
With the new technologies available to martrais faiencieres it is possible for a creative renewal which responds to the aesthetic demands and tastes of current times. This would require a shift from the self image of artisan to one of artist/designer/craftsperson. I wonder if I saw this happening already in a small way with the exploration of new motifs and forms in one of the ateliers?
References
Bord-Levere, E. (2006) Les Faiences de Martres-Tolosane . Colomiers France: Amazone and Mairie Martres Tolosane.
Carbare, L. & Farines, F. (2006) Fayences et Fayenciers de Martres. Toulouse: Mairie Martres Tolosane
Dubois, J. (2007) Chiner les Faiences Francaises. Maison and Travaux . Paris: Presse Practique Parisienne. Pp. 161-167.
