Provenance

Baron Achille Seillière

French, 1813 - 1873

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This is an image of a decorative ceramic plate with a heraldic design. The plate is circular and adorned with a central coat of arms or shield. The shield is divided diagonally by a gold band with two heraldic animals, likely greyhounds, depicted in a running posture with gold stripes. The upper part of the shield contains three gold fleur-de-lis symbols on a blue field. Surrounding the shield is an intricate design of green laurel branches with acorns and yellow floral elements on a blue background. The date "1532" is inscribed on the plate. The ceramic plate combines craftsmanship with rich symbolic imagery, indicative of heraldry. The design reflects a family or regional coat of arms and emphasizes tradition and artistry common in European decorative arts.
Faenza 16th Century, Circular plaque with fruited wreath enclosing a shield of arms, 1532, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.342

Circular plaque with fruited wreath enclosing a shield of arms

Faenza 16th Century · 1532 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.342

A woman wearing a crimson-red brocade dress and gold jewelry fills most of this vertical portrait, but her right hand, on our left, rests on the shoulder of a young boy tucked into the lower left corner of the panel. The woman and boy both have pale, white skin, and both face and look out at us against an emerald-green curtain that falls behind them. The woman has brown eyes, a straight nose, full pink lips, smooth cheeks, and a long neck. Her brown hair is pulled back under a turban densely embroidered with gold. The woman’s dress has puffed shoulders and decorative slashes on the sleeves. One gold chain rests on her throat and the other falls over her chest. She wears long gold earrings, a gold belt, and two gold rings. She holds a brown leather glove in her left hand. The boy’s face is even with the woman’s waist, and he raises his left hand to hold hers, which is draped over his shoulder. He has curly blond hair and dark eyes, and he wears black with a ruffled white shirt just visible at his collar.
Agnolo Bronzino, A Young Woman and Her Little Boy, c. 1540, oil on panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.6

A Young Woman and Her Little Boy

Agnolo Bronzino · c. 1540 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.6

This circular plate is painted with an almost cartoon-like scene showing four people with pale skin around a stream, near the exterior of a tower. At the top of the plate, a nude woman is shown from the thighs up as she falls horizontally from an open window at the top of the tower. Her back, buttocks, and a single breast are exposed to us while a deep red and blue fabric wraps over her far shoulder and around her thighs. Her hands clasp as she reaches her arms forward, and her copper-red hair flies behind her. Her mouth is wide open. Directly below her, at the bottom center of the plate, a man partially wrapped in ruby-red drapery lies on his back in the stream. One arm is flung over his head and the other hangs across his body. He has black hair, and his eyes are closed. On the right side of the plate, a second man stands on the bank of the stream with his body facing us, as he turns his face to our left in profile. He has curly, brown hair, and the eyebrow we can see is furrowed. He wears a knee-length red tunic, and he raises both arms high overhead. Finally, the fourth winged, child-like person stands on the opposite bank, to our left. He is nude except for a quiver of arrows slung across his chest. His babyish body is chubby with small wings between his shoulder blades. He faces the center of the scene and looks up at the falling woman while raising a long torch toward her. The tower is made of parchment-white stones outlined with mustard yellow and black. A shield or coat of arms hangs or hovers just above the center of the plate. It has a rounded top and pointed bottom, and has six gold, tree-like forms against a navy-blue background, all within a scrolling, red frame. The stream winds into the distance between buildings along the banks. Cobalt-blue and sepia-brown mountains line the horizon, and a light brown sun with linear rays sets behind them. The plate is edged with a thin band of golden brown, and there are several chips around the rim. The plate is shown in front of a light gray background and it casts a light shadow to our right.
Francesco Xanto Avelli, Vincenzo Andreoli, Italian 16th Century, Plate with Hero leaping to her death from her tower and the drowned Leander; in the center, a shield of arms, 1538, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.337

Plate with Hero leaping to her death from her tower and the drowned Leander; in the center, a shield of arms

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Vincenzo Andreoli, Italian 16th Century · 1538 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.337

This is a decorated plate depicting an outdoor woodland landscape. Trees with green foliage frame the scene on either side, while a yellow snake coils around one of the trees on the right. In the center is a stone altar with carvings, atop which burns a fire, illuminating the surroundings. Above the fire is a symbol or coat of arms on a scroll-like structure. Several people sit or stand around the central fire, wearing robes. In the background, a ship sails on a body of water, and mountainous landforms can be seen on the horizon.
Italian 16th Century, Broad-rimmed bowl with the sacrifice of the Greeks at Aulis and the omen of the serpent devouring nine birds, interpreted by the priest Calchas; arms of Anne de Montmorency, 1535, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.346

Broad-rimmed bowl with the sacrifice of the Greeks at Aulis and the omen of the serpent devouring nine birds, interpreted by the priest Calchas; arms of Anne de Montmorency

Italian 16th Century · 1535 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.346

Cast in bronze, one woman stands over a second crouching woman in this free-standing sculpture. Both women are nude, muscular, and have long wavy hair pulled back under bands. The golden-brown surface of the bronze is highly polished and smooth. In this photograph, the standing woman’s body faces us. Representing Empire, her head is encircled with a ring of laurel leaves, and she lifts her left hand, to our right, high overhead to hold up a second crown of leaves. She looks down onto the second woman, representing Avarice, and presses her hand into the Avarice’s shoulder, pushing the latter down. Empire balances on one foot and presses the other into Avarice’s hips, also destabilizing the latter’s stance. Avarice falls back onto one hand, which grips a purse on the ground. Avarice looks up at Empire with her mouth open and her left arm, farther from us, raised. Coins spill out on the square base, which is just big enough for Empire’s planted foot, the purse, and Avarice’s unstable feet.
Adriaen de Vries, Empire Triumphant over Avarice, 1610, bronze, Widener Collection, 1942.9.148

Empire Triumphant over Avarice

Adriaen de Vries · 1610 · bronze ·  Accession ID  1942.9.148

Bibliography

1890

  • Catalogue des objets d'art et de haute curiosité et de riche ameublement provenant de l'importante collection de feu M. le Baron Achille Seillière au Château de Mello. Auction cat. Paris, (5-10 May), 1890.