Boules is a collective name for games played with metal balls. Boules is very popular in France.

Two of the most played boule games are pétanque and boule lyonnaise. The aim of the game is to get large, heavy, balls as close to the small, 'jack'. It is very popular especially in France where it may often be seen played in any open space in villages and towns. It is also referred to as 'Bowls'.

• The first pieces fired by Capodimonte were produced in Naples, Italy from 1759 to 1780 at the Royal Factory.

• Modern collectors rarely find the oldest of Capodimonte pieces. They do find mid-century electric lamps, figurines of varying quality, carefully molded flowers and other decorative objects made during the last century.

• Most Capodimonte pieces are marked with some variation of the blue N under a crown mark; many of them are also marked with factory marks.

• While out of print, Capodimonte Collectibles by Bloom (Publications International) is a good reference on this type of porcelain, and can be found through out-of-print booksellers online.

The Passion for Capodimonte
A number of years ago, while working in a large antique mall, I met a woman frantically looking for Capodimonte electric lamps.

Of course, I found out later that she hadn’t discovered that the fountain of youth might be hidden within Capodimonte porcelain. She was just a crazed collector seeking something for which she had developed a passion, and understandably so.

While many people turn their noses up at Capodimonte porcelain thinking about the stuff sold on home shopping channels during the last two decades, some of the lamps produced by the company during the 1940s and '50s can be quite striking and lovely on display in the right setting. My mother owns a particularly pretty one, so I knew why that wild woman at the antique mall wanted them so badly.

History of Capodimonte
Capodimonte porcelain actually dates back centuries. The first pieces fired by this company were produced in Naples, Italy from 1759 to 1780 at the Royal Factory, according to the Capodimonte Limited website.

“The Capodimonte name was synonymous with the finest quality Neapolitan porcelain and ceramics from that period onward,” the site explains. The Royal Factory, which no longer exists, came to being when King Charles of Naples married Maria Amalia. She was the granddaughter of Augustus II, who in addition to being the King of Poland, also founded the first European hard paste porcelain factory in Meissen, Germany.

King Charles developed a curiosity about porcelain through his new wife’s family. This interest turned into a passion that led to many years of research and development before the Royal Factory came about.

Once the formula for porcelain paste was perfected, many skilled craftsmen and artisans, both men and women, worked to produce fine Capodimonte pieces. Plates, vases, small and large bowls, tea and coffee cups, large and small jugs, sugar bowls, tea caddies, teapots, snuff-boxes, and walking stick handles mounted in gold are among the fine pieces produced at the factory in Italy.