Italian Ceramics: Catalogue of the J. Paul Getty Museum Collection

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IN THE DOZEN YEARS since the Getty Museum's Italian

Maiolica catalogue was published, a number of signifi­

cant advances have been made in the study of Italian

ceramics. New archaeological evidence and the use of

archaeometry—once an uncommon tool of inquiry in

the field—have helped connect baffling ceramic typolo­

gies with their centers of production. In cases where

firm evidence is lacking, old prejudices regarding at­

tribution—giving unfair hegemony to certain towns

over others—continue to give way to a new prudence

and circumspection. And archival work continues to un­

cover critical details regarding the activities of potters

and potteries.

Negotiating and incorporating this new research

would have been impossible were it not for the help

of several important individuals, collaborators really,

from within and without the Getty Museum. In Getty

Trust Publications I am indebted to Mark Greenberg and

John Harris for their constant encouragement and fine

editorial skills,- to designer Kurt Hauser for his inspired

eye; and to Cecily Gardner and Kimberly Riback for their

help in gathering visual materials. Amita Molloy over­

saw the complexities of this book's production; Kathleen

Preciado prepared the index; and David Fuller created

a new map for this edition. Ellen South, staff assistant

in the Department of Sculpture and Works of Art, pro­

vided regular assistance with grace and talent. Jack Ross

of Photo Services worked his magic in the luscious

photographs reproduced here. David Scott of the Getty

Research Institute and Brian Considine, Jane Bassett,

and Arlen Heginbotham of the Decorative Arts and

Sculpture Conservation laboratory helped obtain and

assess the information gleaned from such procedures as

X-radiography, thermoluminescence, and nuclear-activa­

tion testing. Finally, Getty interns and research

assistants James Hinton, Kathrin Holderegger, Karen

Hung, Anne Iverson, and Bobbye Tigerman assisted in

various and important ways throughout the project.

Outside the Getty fold I found inspiration and bril­

liant support from Timothy Wilson of the Ashmolean

Museum, Oxford. I will always be grateful to him for his

generosity, encouragement, and friendship. I am thank­

ful to John Mallet, another preeminent scholar in the

area of maiolica studies, whose comments and sugges­

tions considerably improved this manuscript. I would

also like to thank scholars Alessandro Alinari, Michael

Brody, Guido Donatone, Marco Spallanzani, and Anna

Moore Valeri for answering questions and sharing their

enthusiasm for the subject. I am beholden to the various

scholars, scientists, and curators who continue to work

and publish in the area of Italian ceramics, thereby fur­

thering research and confirming the sometimes over­

looked place of Italian ceramics within the broader

history of art. Finally, support on this project, as on so

many things, was provided by my husband, Laurence

Frank, to whom this book is dedicated.

OPPOSITE: Plate with a winged putto on a hobbyhorse (detail). See no. 22.

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