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Portuguese Faience and Historical Archaeology

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Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology

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Introduction

Portuguese faiança or faience (majolica) can be found in colonial contexts in those parts of the New World, Northern Europe, and the coastal ports of Africa and Asia, where Portuguese goods were traded.

Until quite recently this ware was misinterpreted and classified as either Dutch or Italian ceramics in Europe and as the Spanish ceramic-type “Ichetucknee Blue on White” in the New World. Recent LA-ICP-MS (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) analyzes evidence that some of these ceramics were produced in Portugal (Casimiro et al. Forthcoming). The lack of publications concerning Portuguese ceramics published in other languages rather than Portuguese delayed for many years the correct identification of Portuguese faience (Casimiro 2011a).

There were two types of production in post-Medieval times. Between the 1550s and the late 1700s, it was produced in workshops. Starting in the 1760s, it began to be produced in factories. This entry focuses...

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Arqueologia e Paleociências da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Departamento de História Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Lisboa, Portugal

    Tânia Manuel Casimiro

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  1. Tânia Manuel Casimiro
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Correspondence to Tânia Manuel Casimiro .

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  1. Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Claire Smith

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Casimiro, T.M. (2014). Portuguese Faience and Historical Archaeology. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2305

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2305

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