A celebration of the work of Professor Timothy Wilson and his unrivalled knowledge and enthusiasm for Italian Maiolica.

This book is an edited record of the papers given at the two-day symposium ‘Italian Maiolica and Europe’ held in Oxford on 22 and 23 September 2017. It is, in effect, a celebration of his long service in the Ashmolean Museum as the Keeper of Western Art. Museum collections develop their great strengths in one of two ways: through gifts of private collections and through the knowledge and enthusiasm of curators. The Ashmolean’s renowned and important collection of Italian Maiolica owes its foundation to the former and the bequest of C.D.E. Fortnum. But it has grown and developed in remarkable ways over the last three decades thanks to the energy and expertise of Professor Timothy Wilson. During his 27 years as Keeper of Western Art, Tim was responsible for a truly extraordinary range and number of important acquisitions across the fine and decorative arts. As one of the world’s leading scholars of Italian Maiolica, it was only natural that he would continue to build on Fortnum’s legacy.