Composition and technological features of ceramics manufactured by Benito de Valladares in the seventeenth century from the Alcazar Palace in Seville, Spain

Abstract

The walls of the Alcazar Palace in Seville have been covered with ceramic tiles of different styles that were manufactured with different techniques. Several studies have been carried out on these ceramics, but no interest has been paid to the tiles manufactured by the workshop of the Valladares family, one of the most productive ceramic workshops in Triana (Seville). In this work, tiles that were made in the Valladares workshop are studied for the first time. The tiles from the Cenador del Leon built in 1645–1646 were chosen. The experimental studies suggest that the ceramic body was manufactured with silico-calcareous clay. This raw material was heated to a temperature of ca. 900 °C. A nondestructive and on-site analytical procedure was applied first. Microsamples were also taken and studied through microanalytical techniques. The maiolica style was used by Benito de Valladares for tile manufacture. The glaze phases were constituted by two layers. The pigments and doping elements used to obtain different colors were characterized. Valladares’ work is considered as a continuation of Augusta’s work; therefore, a comparison between both ceramists has been realized to better understand the ceramics production in southern Spain during the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries.