The Isacchina canal and the educational parapet

La storia di Nove, cittadina situata sulla destra del Brenta nella pianura di Bassano, a pochi chilometri da Marostica, ha origine dal fiume, che qui, nella parte nordorientale della provincia di Vicenza, acquista la massima ampiezza.
Le terre stesse della città furono strappate alle acque, da qui il toponimo le “Terre Nove”; fu la vicinanza di “la Brenta” a determinare le fortune economiche della città e a definirne i connotati di “terra di ceramica”.

The river provided deposits of alluvial materials, sand and gravel, quartz pebbles, and calcium carbonate, all of which were used for the ceramic mixtures. It also provided the hydraulic power which was harnessed to operate the mills and the complex machinery for the mixing and preparation of clay mixtures and glazes. Finally, thanks to the Brenta, timber for the kilns and finished products could be transported. A series of artificial canals were built, oldest among them the Isacchina canal, which is already named in documents from the 1300’s.

In the 17th century, the growing demand for and spread of precious Chinese porcelains in Europe led Dutch ceramists to imitate their production, taking over the markets of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, among others. The Venetian Senate, therefore, attempted in 1728 to remedy the situation by boosting domestic production with tax breaks for whoever was able to produce porcelain and improve majolica. The Antonibon factory was the fifth in Italy, chronologically, to produce porcelain.

The “educational parapet” is composed of a series of 12 panels of different sizes, made in 1997 on glazed and decorated tiles by Giulio and Flavio Polloniato, with texts by Nadir Stringa, and placed on the eastern side of Piazza De Fabris. They illustrate the history of Nove and its ceramics starting from the 1700s and up to the beginning of the 1900’s, referencing the Art Institute and its most distinguished directors. Inserted in the panels are other plates and other pieces of tableware, which exemplify the most common styles of decoration throughout the ages. The series is completed by a map of the town which indicates the main historic buildings and the list of the ceramics factories and businesses present in the area.