An imposing Urbino or Castel Durante maiolica dish circa 1540

the centre with an istoriato medallion of Venus attended by Cupid in a rocky bower, within a broad bianco-sopra-bianco band of a quartieri scrollwork and foliage, the rim with a brilliant blue band of tight oak meander

Collection J.G.R, Strasburg
Christie's Milan, 8th June 2004, lot 439
Private European Collection

M. Bellini and G. Conti, Maioliche Italiane del Rinascimento, Milano, 1964, p.120. 

large chip re-stuck at 10 o'clock (3.5cm x 10cm), restored chip along edge of rim at 2 o'clock with some spray on the underside of rim, minor typical glaze chips along edge of 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."

The dish is particularly rare, both for its sheer size and for its ambitious bianco-sopra-bianco.  Bianco sopra bianco is a technique of ornament in brilliant white against a slightly off-white tin glaze. Capable of very fine detail, it is not clear where and when it was first developed, but it is traditionally thought to have been developed at Faenza at the beginning of the 16^th century, and then adopted at Castel Durante, Siena and Deruta. The small town of Castel Durante, close to Faenza, was to become an important production centre of maiolica, and the traditional attribution of the finest extant pieces has been to this town.

The latest research, however, together with excavations of several fragments, shows that as many were produced in Urbino as were in Castel Durante¹. Furthermore, this very frieze corresponds closely with Piccolpasso’s drawing of sopra biancho which he describes as uso urbinato (see detail). Moreover, while the majority of the recorded pieces are centred with a stemma or a portrait, the present lot is painted with an istoriato scene of Venus and Cupid that Timothy Wilson associated with the work of the Urbino “painted of the so-called Della Rovere dishes”, see. T. Wilson, Italian Maiolica of the Renaissance, no.142, p.350 and Johanna Lessmann, Italienische Majolika, Braunschweig, 1979, no. 311.

Several dishes with similar oak rim are known in public collections as follows: five dishes are recorded in the French national museums² and one in the British Museum³. Two are in privates collections⁴, one without bianco sopra bianco decoration, and recently one sold at Sotheby’s London, 6 December 2011, lot 18. A dish with a thicker border but similar bianco sopra bianco decoration is illustrated by Giuliana Gardelli, Italika, Faenza, 1999, n. 99, pp.214, 215.

 

 Footnotes:

1. See for example the armorial dish with the flaying of Marsyas painted  by Nicola da Urbino on the rim and centre, the well with bianco sopra bianco, now in the Getty Museum (inv. 84.DE.117).

2. Jeanne Giacomotti, Catalogue des Majoliques des Musées Nationaux, 1974, nos.779-783

3. D.Thornton and T.Wilson, Italian Renaissance Ceramics, British Museum, 2009, pp.377-8, fig.223

4. T. Wilson, Italian Maiolica of the Renaissance, no.142, p.350. A similar dish in the Heinz Kuckei collection, Berlin, is illustrated by T.Hausmann, Floritura, Berlin, 2002, pp.180-1, no.71