A PAIR OF ITALIAN MAIOLICA TWO-HANDLED ALBARELLI, CAFAGGIOLO, CIRCA 1500-20 |

with bi-colour rope-twist handles, painted with 'Persian palmettes', signed with initials below the handle, one with incised marks to underside,

Anonymous sale, Sotheby's London, 8th July 1965, lot 68, sold to Stagni.

Galeazzo Cora and Angiolo Fanfani, Storia della maiolica di Firenze e del Contado, La maiolica di Cafaggiolo, Florence, 1982, p. 108, no. 93, one illustrated.

Each jar has a replacement handle with associated areas of spray. Each has been drilled through the base. One with tapering foot section re-stuck. The other with a small area of overpaint to decorative panel at the top right corner, Both have typical glaze loss to rim,
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In 1497/98 brothers Stefano and Piero di Filippo Schiavone moved from their native Montelupo to work in the neighbouring city of Florence where they founded the Cafaggiolo workshop just north of the Tuscan capital. The workshop was located in the out buildings of the Villa owned by the Medici in the town of Barberino di mugello. Their position of favour with the Medici family enabled the workshop to produce some of the most luxurious maiolica products of the early 16th century.

The brothers began signing their works 'SP', which perhaps is a reference their initials S[tefano di Filippo] P[iero di Filippo]; it has also been suggested that the monogram may also be interpreted as the Medici motto, Semper [always]. Though Piero died in 1507 the mark continued to be used. The workshop has been suggested as a production site of a group of lavishly decorated armorial jugs, boccale: in the Victoria and Albert museum, Musée de Sevres, two formally in the Pringsheim collection and another in the Musée de Cluny. The latter example is marked ‘SP’ and therefore Cafaggiolo seems plausible. After the deaths of Piero, and Stefano in 1532, the direction of their workshop was taken up by their sons. In 1568 Jacopo di Stefano is mentioned in documents as sole director.¹

A Cafaggiolo spouted drug jar similarly painted with Persian palmettes made for the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital in Florence is published by Julia Poole, Italian Maiolica...in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, 1995, pp. 128-129, no. 187, where the author suggests an early production date of 1508.

_{1. Catherine Hess, Italian Maiolica: Catalogue of the Collections, The J. Paul Getty Museum, California, 1988, p. 66.}