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Named after its wealthy patron, the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art (Mon, Wed, Thurs & Fri 10am-6pm, Tues 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm; $5, free the first Tues of every month), just across the street from the ROM, holds a superb connoisseur's collection of ceramics. Spread over two small floors, the museum's exhibits are beautifully presented. Downstairs, the Pre-Columbian section is especially fine, composed of over three hundred pieces from regions stretching from Mexico to Peru, providing an intriguing insight into the lifestyles and beliefs of the Mayan, Incan and Aztec peoples. Also downstairs is an exquisite sample of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century tin-glazed Italian majolica , mostly dishes, plates and jars depicting classical and biblical themes designed by Renaissance artists. The early pieces are comparatively plain, limited to green and purple, but the later examples are brightly coloured for in the second half of the fifteenth century Italian potters learnt how to glaze blue and yellow - and ochre was added later. The most superb pieces are perhaps those from the city of Urbino, including two wonderful plates portraying the fall of Jericho and the exploits of Hannibal. Upstairs is devoted to eighteenth-century European porcelain , with fine examples of hard-paste wares (fired at very high temperatures) from Meissen, Germany, and an interesting sample of Chinese-style blue-and-white porcelain, long the mainstay of the European ceramic industry. An unusual collection of English ware features both well-known and lesser-known manufacturers. On this floor also is a charming collection of Italian commedia dell'arte figurines, doll-sized representations of theatrical characters popular across Europe from the middle of the sixteenth to the late eighteenth century. The predecessor of pantomime, the commedia dell'arte featured stock characters - Harlequin, Scaramouche, Columbine and so forth - in improvised settings, but with a consistent theme of seduction, age and beauty: the centrepiece was always an elderly, rich merchant and his beautiful young wife.
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