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Probably painted and lustered in the workshop of Maestro Giorgio Andreoli of Gubbio

Shallow bowl on low foot with the muse Clio riding on a swan through a watery landscape, c. 1535/1540

West Building, Ground Floor — Gallery G14

Medium

tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)

Dimensions

overall (diameter): 26.1 cm (10 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.340

Artists / Makers

Italian 16th Century (ceramist)

Maestro Giorgio Andreoli of Gubbio (related artist) Italian, c. 1465/1470 - c. 1553

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

on table at right: CLIO

Provenance

Alexander Barker [c. 1797-1873], London;[1] Mrs. Benzon, in 1876.[2] "Mr. Natorp," by 1887. Sir Frances Beaufort Palmer, London, by 1910.[3] ("Goldschmidt");[4] purchased February 1913 by Peter A.B. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] A photograph of c. 1862, neg. 3600, in the photographic archive of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, shows that the dish was at that time in Barker's collection.

[2] Timothy H. Wilson, author of the NGA systematic catalogue entry published in 1993, provided this additional information in August 2000. Mrs. Benzon lent the dish to an exhibition at Wrexham that opened 22 July 1876.

[3] The dish corresponds exactly to the description of the one exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club exhibitions in 1887 and 1910 by "Mr. Natorp" and Sir Francis Beaufort Palmer respectively, and is almost certainly the same piece.

[4] Widener collection records in NGA curatorial files. The reference is presumably to the prominent art dealers, J. and S. Goldschmidt, Frankfurt-am-Main.

Associated Names

Barker, Alexander
Benzon, Mrs.
Goldschmidt, J. and S.
Natorp, Mr.
Palmer, Francis Beaufort, Sir
Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

Exhibition History

1876: Art Treasures of North Wales and the Border Counties, Wrexham, 1876.

1887: Catalogue of Specimens of Hispano-Moresque and Majolica Pottery, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1887, no. 292.

1910: Catalogue of A Collection of Pictures Including Examples of the Works of the Brothers Le Nain and Other Works of Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1910, 48.

1982: Sixtenth-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. 40.

2018: Sharing Images: Renaissance Prints into Maiolica and Bronze, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2018, no. 5

Technical Summary

Earthenware, covered front and back with a pinkish white glaze, slightly pitted on the back. The painting is in blue, green, yellow, orange brown, gray, near black, and white, with golden-brown and red luster. The dish has been broken and restored with very extensive overpaint front and back, especially down the tree trunk on the left, along the lower center, and at the edge at three o'clock. The rim is almost entirely repainted. The luster is worn. No kiln-support marks are visible; they are probably covered by restorations.

Bibliography

1887: Catalogue of Specimens of Hispano-Moresque and Majolica Pottery. Exh. cat. Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1887: no. 292.

1910: Catalogue of A Collection of Pictures Including Examples of the Works of the Brothers Le Nain and Other Works of Art. Exh. cat. Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1910: 48.

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 63, as Urbino, with Gubbio luster, c. 1540.

1938: Hind, Arthur M. Early Italian Engraving. 7 vols. London, 1938-1948: 1:232.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 12, as Urbino, with Gubbio luster, about 1540.

1983: Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 119, no. 3, as Gubbio, c. 1525/1535.

1986: Watson, Wendy M. Italian Renaissance Maiolica from the William A. Clark Collection. Exh. cat. (11 venues). London and Washington, 1986: 34 n. 5.

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: 189-190, repro. 189.