Triumph of Amphitrite: C.1-1964

Titles

Triumph of Amphitrite
Triumph of Galatea

Maker(s)

Workshop: Fontana Workshop

Entities

• Cistern
• trilobate cistern

Categories

• Tin-glazed earthenware
• Maiolica

Description

Maiolica trilobate cistern, painted in polychrome with, on the interior the Triumph of Amphitrite or Galatea, on the exterior landscapes.

Buff earthenware, tin-glazed creamy-white overall. Painted in blue, green, yellow, orange, stone, brown, manganese-purple, black, grey, and white.
Trilobate bowl, standing on a base composed of three lion's feet with vertical scrolls between them. Between each of the lobes there is a deeply grooved handle, terminating at the top in a grotesque mask with a gaping mouth and curling horns which rest on the rim.
The interior is decorated with the Triumph of Amphitrite or Galatea. The goddess reclines in a cockle-shell chariot drawn by two dolphins, surrounded by tritons and sea nymphs, a sea horse, and putti frolicking among the waves. In the background there are buildings close to the shore with mountains beyond. Above, five putti holding foliage play amid clouds. The rim is yellow and orange. On the outside, each lobe is decorated with rocks and buildings in a landscape. The lion's feet base, scrolls and mask-handles are coloured yellow and orange.

Notes

History note: Sir Otto Beit; Sir Alfred Beit; Sotheby's, 16 October 1942, Catalogue of important Italian majolica, the property of Sir Alfred Beit Bt, MP, lot 61; sold to Blairman £115.0.0. Peel & Humphries, London.

Legal notes

Purchased with the Cecil C. Mason Fund and grant-in-aid from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Place(s) associated

• Urbino ⪼ Marche ⪼ Italy

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bought (1964-03-12) by Peel and Humphris

Dating

16th Century
Renaissance
Circa 1550 CE - 1570 CE

Note

Trilobate cisterns (rinfrescatoi a triangolo) were used for cooling bottles, flasks, and possibly, fruit. They were made in Urbino for probably over half a century. None of the examples with istoriato decoration are dated, but on stylistic grounds they appear to have been introduced in the late 1540s or early 1550s. The latest dated example, in the British Museum, is decorated with grotesques, and was made in the workshop of Francesco Patanazzi in 1608. This cistern was probably made in the workshop of Guido Durantino (Fontana) and his son Orazio, or if made between 1565-70 possibly in Orazio Fontana's workshop. The decoration of trilobate cisterns with marine deities, nereids and tritons frolicking in the sea was appropriate for their function as containers for water. These lively designs were inspired by Marcantonio Raimondi's engraving of the Triumph of Galatea after Raphael's fresco in the Villa Farnese in Rome, although, only one of the extant examples, in the Wallace Collection, is decorated internally with a close copy of it. The others have variants, identified as either the Triumph of Galatea or Amphitrite, who is sometimes accompanied by Neptune. In the upper part of the scenes there are usually putti, holding bows as they do in the print, or wreaths. The demand for such scenes might also have been fostered by Vasari's fresco of 'Water' in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, but the fashion for marine fantasies in the second half of the century was an aspect of the Mannerist style which can be paralleled in metalwork in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. The exterior of the cisterns are usually decorated on the lobes with landscapes, and they stand a central support with three massive lion's paw feet.

School or Style

Renaissance