Large dish with segmental border of plant sprays and scale pattern; in the center, an emblematic female figure holding a crowned toad and cornucopia, c. 1510/1540

Not on View

Medium

tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)

Dimensions

overall (diameter): 40.3 cm (15 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.317

Artists / Makers

Deruta 16th Century (ceramist)

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Marks and Labels

Kann collection labels 11, 180

Provenance

Probably Alessandro Castellani [1823-1883], Rome; (his sale, Paris, 27-29 May 1878, no. 146, as Pesaro). Probably A. Andrews, London; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 14-17 April 1888, no. 391); (Galerie Seligmann, Paris). Maurice Kann [1839-1906], Paris; purchased 1908 with the entire Kann collection by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); purchased February 1910 by Peter A. B. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from the Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, 1942.

Associated Names

Andrews, A.
Castellani, Alessandro
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Kann, Maurice
Seligmann, Galerie
Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

Exhibition History

1877: Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1877.

1877: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1877.

1982: Sixteenth-century Italian Maiolica; Selections from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection and the National Gallery of Art's Widener Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982-1983, no. 13.

2004: La Ceramica Umbra al Tempo di Perugino [Ceramics in Umbria in the time of Perugino], Museo Regionale della Ceramica di Deruta, 2004, no. 25, repro.

Technical Summary

Earthenware, covered on the front with a white tin glaze and on the back with a semitranslucent yellowish brown glaze overlying blobs of tin glaze. The painting is in blue, with luster varying in color from yellow to brown, with patches and streaks of red; the luster is greenish where it overlies the blue. The dish has warped slightly in the kiln. In the foot ring are two holes for suspension, made before firing, placed so that the dish hangs correctly from them. There are kiln scars on the back and on the edge. The glaze on the front is somewhat cracked. On the rim at eight o'clock a piece has broken away and been repaired, with some overpaint. There is some wear and chipping on the outer and inner edges of the rim.

Bibliography

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 54, as Deruta with Gubbio luster, c. 1520.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 12, as Deruta with Gubbio luster, about 1520.

1993: Distelberger, Rudolf, Alison Luchs, Philippe Verdier, and Timonthy H. Wilson. Western Decorative Arts, Part I: Medieval, Renaissance, and Historicizing Styles including Metalwork, Enamels, and Ceramics. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1993: 146-147, repro. 146.

2002: Mack, Rosamund E. Bazaar to Piazza: Islamic Trade and Italian Art, 1300-1600. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 2002: 103-104, fig. 104.