LARGE ITALIAN MAIOLICA DISH
DERUTA, CIRCA 1520-1560
£65,000
Auction: 7 December 2011 from 11:00 GMT
Description
with a sloping rim and a flanged edge, the footrim pierced with two holes for suspension, the front tin-glazed and painted in blue, orange, yellow and green; centrally painted with an 'istoriato' scene mostly in monochromatic blue with a version of the Procession of Silenus with a border of scrolling foliage terminating in vases, fruit and flower heads; a circular collector's label on the reverse
Dimensions
40.5cm diameter
Footnote
Note:
The theme of the donkey occurs on a small group of documented Deruta dishes of this period. For example, on dishes in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Louvre, National Museums of Scotland and a dish in the Willliam A. Clark collection. The images usually illustrate local pithy proverbs and sometimes have a satirical meaning. The engraved print, the source for this dish, may have been Agostino Veneziano's Procession of Silenus after a drawing by Raphael or Giulio Romano (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale de France. Eb 7T.1) On the present dish an inserted figure uses the serving cup to pour wine over the head of Silenus, perhaps changing the meaning of the original engraving into that of a satirical commentary on the futility of drunkenness.