Also spelled Maiolica, in pottery, an earthenware body covered with tin and lead glazes. Majolica pottery originated
in North Africa and travelled into Europe via Spain, and then was exported
to Italy via the island of Majorca, hence the name. From Italy it spread to
France and the rest of Europe.
The majolica painter's palette was usually restricted to five colours:
cobalt blue, antimony yellow, iron red, copper green, and manganese
purple; the purple and blue were used, at various periods, mainly for
outline. A white tin enamel was used also for highlights or alone on
the white tin glaze in what was called bianco sopra bianco, "white on white."
The shapes most often employed were the albarello, or drug jar, of Middle
East origin; a type of ewer evidently derived from the Greek oinochoe; and
above all, the piatta da pompa, or show dish, in the istoriato, an Italian
narrative style from the early 16th century that uses the pottery body
solely as support for a purely pictorial effect. Although violating aesthetic
rules in their subordination of shape to decoration, such wares remain
works of great skill, as well as beauty.
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Yaroslavl grew on the main waterway of Russia, the Volga River. The city was founded not later than the year 1010, by Yaroslavl the
Wise, son of the Kiev prince Vladimir. Today the spcity extends more than
thirty kilometers along the Volga river and has a population of over 900,000.
In 1218 Yaroslavl became the capital city of an independent principality.
At that time the first stone buildings appeared in Yaroslavl and it's
cultural life began to develop. In 1463 Yaroslavl was incorporated into
Moscow principality and for a long time it was under the strong influence
of Moscow.
The 16th & 17th centuries saw the political and economic
flourishing of the city when it became a large trade centre with highly
skilled craftsmen. It was at that time that the architecture and painting
developed. The paintings of Yaroslavl were known far beyond their
native city, they decorated many churches in Moscow, Rostov Veliky,
Suzdal and Vologda.
 Yaroslavl is famous for the more than 20 churches dating from the
17th century still standing in the city today. All of these outstanding
monuments embody the best traditions of old Russian architecture.
There is also more than 900 preserved buildings, with religious and
historical value being kept safe.
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To maintain the continuous development of new products
the company is currently employing 90 people including Ms Natasha Pavlova, the artist and the sculptor behind the name of PAVLOVSKAYA ceramics.
