Edited by Daphne Barbour and Shelley Sturman

A stunning collection of essays and color photographs analyzing the manufacture of Saint-Porchaire ceramics whose origins in the Renaissance have been a mystery to art historians. The essays comment on the elaborate detail of the pieces, comparing the production technology to other European ceramics, the recovery of a lost cup, and the distribution of this ceramic in public collections. The researchers speculate that some degree of royal patronage must be assumed for the production of the elaborate salt cellars, cups, and ewers, theorizing that the patron may have been Catherine de Medici and the actual site of manufacture was Paris not Saint-Prochaire, although the artisans still remain hidden to history.

Published by the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art.