Inkstand with sleeping knight

late 15th/early 16th century

Faenza 15th Century

Ceramist, Central Italian

Faenza 16th Century

Ceramist, Central Italian

An armored knight and the rectangular trough he lies next to are both on a slightly larger pedestal base in this freestanding, vibrantly colored maiolica inkstand. The earthenware object was covered with tin-oxide glaze, which, when fired, results in royal blue, grass green, pale orange, and brown hues. The knight’s skin is the white of the earthenware, and his armor is blue and orange. He lies down, using his helmet as a pillow to our left. Both knees are bent, and his hands are by his sides. A staff or lance lies at his feet to our right. The base has a coat of arms on the center front, and two animals, perhaps deer, lie to either side. The base is outlined in green or blue, and it rests on four brown, paw-shaped feet.

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 17

Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Émile Gavet [1830-1904], Paris;[1] purchased by William Andrews Clark [1839-1925], New York; bequest 1926 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] Wendy M. Watson’s catalogue (Italian Renaissance Maiolica from the William A. Clark Collection, exh. cat. [11 venues], London and Washington, 1986: 40, no. 4) appends Gavet’s name with a question mark, presumably because this work could not be located in Émile Molinier’s catalogues of the Gavet collection (Collection Émile Gavet, catalogue raisonné précédé d'une historique et archéologique sur les oeuvres d'art qui compose cette collection, Paris, 1889 and 1894). However, Clark collection records, in NGA curatorial files, say Clark purchased the work from Gavet.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1986

  • Italian Renaissance Maiolica from the William A. Clark Collection, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley; The Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston; The Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Saint Louis Art Museum; Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Dayton Art Institute; University Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1986-1989, no. 4, repro.

2004

  • Marvels of Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics from the Corcoran Gallery of Art Collection, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida; Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittsburgh; Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids; Hillstrom Museum of Art, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota; Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, 9 April 2004 - 18 June 2006, no. 31.

2007

  • Treasures of European Decorative Art and Sculpture, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 25 August 2007 - 29 March 2009, no catalogue.

Bibliography

1925

  • Carroll, Dana H. Catalogue of Objects of Fine Art and Other Properties at the Home of William Andrews Clark, 962 Fifth Avenue. Part II. Unpublished manuscript, n.d. (1925): 266, no. 113.

1955

  • Von Erdberg, Joan Prentice. "Italian Maiolica at the Corcoran Gallery of Art." The Burlington Magazine 97, no. 624 (March 1955): 72.

  • Breckenridge, James D. "Italian Maiolica in the W.A. Clark Collection." The Corcoran Gallery of Art Bulletin 7, no. 3 (April 1955): no. 6.

Inscriptions

front center, shield of arms: Argent, a chevron gules between three mullets pierced azure

Wikidata ID

Q62288020

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