Details
- Object type
plate
- Artist/Maker
- Culture/School
Italian
- Place Associated
Italy, Urbino (place of manufacture); Italy, Casteldurante (place associated)
- Date
1543
- Materials
tin-glazed earthenware; maiolica
- Dimensions
overall: 55 mm x 275 mm x 280 mm 680 g
- Description
-
Maiolica ‘Istoriato’ (narrative), shallow dish. An unidentified scene in which three young men, dressed in fashionable clothing, talk or quarrel in the foreground. The man to the far right, reaches for a rapier with his right hand and is wearing a coat of mail under his jerkin. An old man runs towards them, down a rocky path, scattering papers. A group of cattle sits beneath tall trees, blue mountains can be seen in the horizon, a castle or fortress features on the left, above a cluster of white buildings with orange roofs. Two black birds fly overhead, and a coat of arms with two red lions rampant is at the top centre. These arms identify this dish as a special commission, presumably one of a set manufactured for a noble household. Both the arms and the story that inspired this scene are yet to be identified.
Inscription on the reverse reads 'F.D. 1543', attributed to Francesco Durantino. Other works by Durantino are identified on the basis of similarities to signed works found in Vienna, Schwerin, London (British Museum - 1855,1201.74), Stockholm, and Chicago.
The term maiolica may derive from the Balearic island of Majorca (Mallorca), from where the fine tin-glazed Hispano-Moresque ceramics of Valencia, which inspired the later Italian wares, were imported into Italy. By the sixteenth century, Italy was home to various noted centres of maiolica production, including, Florence, Pesaro, Faenza, Deruta, Urbino, Venice and Castel Durante.
Due to the expense of importing tin for the glaze, maiolica wares were a somewhat costly commodity, although significantly cheaper than alternatives modelled in precious metals. In 1525 a single silver salt cellar commissioned by the Duke of Mantua, Frederico Gonzaga, was valued at over 50 ducats (31 ducats for the silver, 20 for the goldsmith’s skill), in comparison the Duke’s order of 100 pieces of finely painted ‘istoriato’ maiolica was priced at just 25 scudi, approximately half of the price of the salt cellar.
Nonetheless the most extravagant, ornate and decorative wares were highly prized by financial and social elites for their refinement, skill and inventiveness, which was understood to have surpassed the abilities of any previous European ceramicists, even those of the celebrated ancient world.
Much of the maiolica that survives to the present day represents the most desirable wares. Preserved by their owners and later collectors, such pieces show little signs of wear, suggesting they were seldom put to practical use at the dining table, perhaps being reserved for irregular use on special occasions or commissioned as primarily display pieces. Maiolica workshops did produce less decorative and more utilitarian pieces for everyday use, these are more commonly known from archaeological finds.
Around 1500, maiolica depicting narrative scenes often derived from, or inspired by, ancient myths or history became particularly popular. These ‘istoriato’ or ‘figurato’ ('story' or 'figure') pieces reflected Renaissance Italy’s fascination with history and the ancient classical world, and served as markers of their owner's erudition, scholarship and classical learning.
Provenance: Ex Fountaine Collection, sold 1884, day 3, lot 331; gift of James Donald, 1905.
Published:
Simon Olding, ‘Italian Maiolica’, Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, 1982 (No. 47)
Andrew Moore, 'The Fountaine Collection of Maiolica', The Burlington Magazine 130, no. 1023 (1988): pp.435–47.
Western Decorative Arts, Part I: Medieval, Renaissance, and Historicizing Styles Including Metalwork, Enamels, and Ceramics, (National Gallery of Art, Washington) 1993, p.223.
Silvia Glaser, Italienische Fayencen der Renaissance: Ihre Spuren in internationalen more
- ID Number
1905.114.b
- Location
In storage