Plate: C.143-1991

Maker(s)

Maker: Unidentified Orvieto pottery (Uncertain)
Maker: Unidentified Lazio pottery (Uncertain)

Entities

• Plate

Categories

• Tin-glazed earthenware
• Maiolica

Description

Renaissance maiolica plate, painted in blue and dark yellow with a shuttle and crown in the middle, and letters on the rim.

Buff earthenware, thickly potted and tin-glazed dark cream on both sides, except for the area inside the footring. Painted in blue and dark yellow. Shape 44. Circular with incurved edge, sloping rim and narrow central depression, standing on a footring. In the middle there is a dark yellow crown over a shuttle, and on the rim in spaced blue letters, `. A S S Q V A L .'.

Notes

History note: Marcioni--Lucatelli collection; Sotheby's, 17 February 1914, Signor Avvocato Marcioni or Cavaliere Capitano Lucatelli; Sotheby's, 16-17 February 1914, Catalogue of the collections of early Italian pottery formed by Signor Avvocato Marcioni and Cavaliere Capitano Lucatelli of Orvieto, part of lot 185G (unsold). Purchased from Kerin, London, on 9 December 1933 by H.S. Reitlinger (d.1950); the Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead, from which transferred in 1991.

Legal notes

H.S. Reitlinger Bequest, 1950; transferred from the Reitlinger Trust, 1991

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1991-04-29) by Reitlinger, Henry Scipio

Dating

15th Century
Renaissance
Circa 1450 CE - 1500 CE

Note

The remaining letters on the rim indicate that the plate bore the name `PASSQUALE' (Pasquàle), possibly a monk or a weaver. A plate of similar shallow form, decora¬ted in the middle with a bow and arrow and inscribed on the rim `MA AGNELLINA' (Madre Agnellina) probably for a nun, was exca¬vated in Rome and is now in the Museo di Roma (MR 17692).

This plate does not bear a pencilled lot number, but can be identified securely as part of lot 185G in the Marcioni--Lucatelli sale held by Sotheby's on 16-17 February 1914. It was almost certainly one of the `27 glazed 15th cent. plates & bowls, said to have been excavated at Orvieto' which were purchased by H.S. Reitlinger on 9 December 1933 from the London dealer, Kerin. In view of the plate's provenance, it seems likely that all these were unsold lots from the sale, disposed of by Fenton the vendors' agent. Its presence in the Marcioni-Lucatelli collection . Its presence in the Marcioni--Lucatelli collection might indicate that it was made at Orvieto rather than in Lazio.

School or Style

Renaissance