Le Nove porcelain

These provided a ready source of images for the porcelain-painters of Le Nove, of whom the head was Giovanni Marcon, brought in by Parolin and still working for Baroni in about 1820.

[9] In 1762 Pasquale Antonibon reported to the state that his operation consisted of 136 workers in the factory and 100 "pedlars" selling the wares.

[13] The first two periods, under the ownership of Pasquale Antonibon and Parolin, are regarded as much the best, although William Chaffers describes some early pieces by the next owner, Giovanni Baroni, as "very charming", and notes the marks of Fabbrica Baroni pieces belonging to William Ewart Gladstone.

[15] Both the Cozzi and Le Nove factories used kaolin from the only known Italian source, Mount Tretto in the Dolomites, now in Schio, controlled by Bortolo Facci.

He exploited this position by charging such a high price that Cozzi porcelain was more expensive in Venice than imported pieces.

[16] The Venetian government archives include extensive collections of petitions, complaints and reports throughout the 18th century documenting these efforts by the Antonibons and other owners, and some allegations of sabotage at the factories, enticing away of workers, and the theft of moulds.

[19] Before they began making porcelain, the Antonibons already enjoyed water rights enabling them to build grinding-mills,[20] a ban (shared by other manufacturers) on their workers joining competitors without a four-year break,[21] and from 1756 a monopoly on the manufacture of maiolica within five miles of Nove, affecting at least one rival in nearby Rivarotta.