Cipriano Piccolpasso

Cipriano di Michele Piccolpasso (1524 – 21 November 1579) was a member of an Italian patrician family of Bologna that had been settled since the mid-fifteenth century in Castel Durante, which was an important center for the manufacture of maiolica. Today he is remembered for writing ("The three books of the potter's art"), which are a storehouse of information on the techniques of maiolica from the choice of clays and their refinement, the shaping of the body, the composition of the glazes, to the preparation of the colors. The work "is now widely accepted as the first comprehensive account of the manufacture of any kind of pottery ever produced in Europe".

His brother operated a maiolica workshop, but it is not clear how much hands-on potting experience Cipriano himself had. He mentions that he had never used lustreware pigments, which might imply that he had used other types. His account of workshop techniques is in places unclear and hard to follow, either because he did not understand the process himself, or had difficulty forming a written description. The date of the book is uncertain, but most writers follow Bernard Rackham who suggested it (or at least the manuscript in the Victoria and Albert Museum) was written between around 1556 and 1559. Provided by Wikipedia