An unprecedented exploration of Venetian maiolica set in a vibrant context of hybridity and exchange. Introduced by migrant potters ca.1500, the medium offers a unique point of entry into Venice's material world shaped by Mediterranean trade and local luxury production. This exhibition catalogue explores maiolica's multifaceted connection to objects ranging from Islamic metalwork to Venetian glass. Accompanying an exhibition held at the Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Global Luxury in Renaissance Venice explores the role of maiolica within the vast range of luxury objects made in Venice and imported into the city, highlighting the place of the medium at the nexus of cross-media and cross-cultural exchanges. Thematic discussions investigate the circulation of artefacts and the migration of ornament, the potter's workshop and artistic lineage, and maiolica's position in the material culture of splendour that characterized elite interiors. The book addresses works made in the thriving workshops of Jacomo da Pesaro and Domenego da Venezia, and suggests a connection between the rise of villeggiatura in the mid-sixteenth century and the ascent Venice's maiolica industry.

This publication reflects upon the celebrated collection at the internationally renowned Gardiner Museum, Toronto, which has grown to become one of the world's great speciality museums with its devotion to the ceramic arts. Featuring more than 100 images, the book focuses upon 30 objects that reflect the temporal and geographical breadth of the Museum's collection, as well as the universality of the medium it celebrates. An international body of scholars and curators share their insights and expertise within the book's essays telling the story of ceramic production throughout history and with reference to a vast array of approaches to the medium. Featuring works by such illustrious names as Marc Chagall, Betty Woodman, Marilyn Levine, Wedgwood and Delft, this book provides a fascinating insight into one of the greatest collections in the world of ceramics.