To reveal the processing steps of tin-glazed pottery (majolica, faience) production and to determine the raw material use and technological parameters of the workshop, joint use of phase analysis by X-ray diffraction (XRD) as well as microtextural and microchemical investigation by electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) are necessary. It is essential to define the micromorphology and chemistry of the various inclusions (relict and recrystallized phases) in the glaze since they can help in confining the firing temperature of the glaze, as well as the pigments.

A majolica inkstand with figure groups showing “The Nativity” and “The Adoration of the Magi” forms part of the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts (Budapest). The inkstand made by Giovanni di Nicola Manzoni presumably in Colle Val d’Elsa (Toscana) around 1510 has prominent significance due to its scenes, inscriptions, signs, function and quality.

Archaeometric research revealed that the ceramic body of the object was made using well-prepared calcareous clay fired at ~850-950°C according to the presence of calcium silicate minerals (diopside, gehlenite). The ceramic body was covered by a white, tin-opacified lead-alkali glaze, painted with different (ochre, blue, green and brown) colours, and a transparent lead-alkali overglaze was applied over the whole object. Abundant rounded-dissolved K-feldspar and quartz inclusions in the glaze layers are relicts of the sand raw material. Tinlead inclusions in the opaque glaze are also remnants of the raw material. Cassiterite (SnO2) can be present partly as relict grains, partly as recrystallized phase precipitated during the second firing. A ~700-900°C temperature can be estimated for the second firing. The polychrome paintings of the inkstand were made using the typical colouring materials of the Italian Renaissance pottery: cobalt-bearing pigment for blue, iron-bearing lead-antimonate pigment for ochre, copper colorant for green and manganese colorant for brown.