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Maker/s

Unknown possibly (pottery)

Unknown possibly (pottery)

Category

tin-glazed earthenware
maiolica

Name

two-handled bowl

School/Style

maiolica arcaica

Description

Medieval, maiolica two-handled bowl, painted in manganese and green with, on the inside, a peacock.

Reddish-buff earthenware, the interior and handles tin-glazed greyish-white, the exterior lead-glazed pale brownish-yellow, which has run over onto the base. Painted in dark manganese and copper-green. Shape 34. Circular with deep sides, curving outwards from the base and then upwards almost vertically to the flat projecting rim; two small broad strap handles on opposing sides. Inside, a peacock faces in profile to right with its tail folded, and its body and wings decorated with rosettes, one of which forms its eye. On the right there is a stylised plant with a lobed leaf and two flowers, similar to the motifs on the bird. Above its head, a tendril sprouts from the edge of the border, and by its beak there is a circular stylised flower. The sides are decorated with a row of green reversed Ss, with two black horizontal bands below and one above, and the rim with alternating groups of manganese and green radiating stripes.

Production Place

Orvieto (pottery) (place) ()

Umbria (pottery) (region) ()

Tuscany (pottery) (region) ()

Italy (pottery) (country)

Technique Description

reddish-buff earthenware; the interior and handles tin-glazed greyish-white, the exterior lead-glazed pale brownish-yellow, which has run over onto the base; painted in dark manganese and copper-green.

Dimensions

height: (whole): 11.5 cm
diameter: (foot): 16.8 cm
diameter: (rim): 30.4 cm
width: (whole): 35.8 cm

Period

13th Century
14th Century
Medieval

Date

circa 1275 to 1375

Provenance

bequeathed: Harris, F. Leverton, The Right Hon. 1927 (Filtered for: Applied Arts collection)

Elia Volpi, Florence; Durlacher Brothers, London, from whom purchased in November 1920 by F. Leverton Harris.

F. Leverton Harris Bequest, 1926.

Documentation

1. Borenius, Tancred (1931) The Leverton Harris Collection, London: Privately printed
   [comments: Publ. pl. XIV, lower shelf at back to right of centre]
2. Rackham, Bernard (1935) Guide to the European Pottery and Porcelain in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Cambridge (Cambs.): The Fitzwilliam Museum
   [comments: Publ. pl. 12, lower shelf]
3. Poole, Julia E. (1995) Italian Maiolica and Incised Slipware in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Cambridge (Cambs.): Cambridge University Press [page: pp. 71-72]
   [comments: Publ. pp. 71-72, no. 119]
4. Bellini, Mario (1964) Maioliche italiane del Rinascimento, Milan [page: p. 48]
   [comments: Cf. The stylized flowerheads on the plants and peacock's body resemble those on a large dish decorated with a queen which was found at Orvieto, p. 48, C.]
5. Satolli, Alberto (1990) Orvieto, il Palazzo del Popolo e i suoi restauri, Orvieto: Bollettino dell'Instituto Storico Artistico Orvietana [page: pp. 153, 158-9]
   [comments: Cf. The stylized flowerheads on the plants and peacock's body resemble those on fragments from a 'butto' of the Palazzo del Popolo, p. 153, fig. 189, pp. 158-9, fig. 211.]
6. Burlington Fine Arts Club (1924) Burlington Fine Arts Club Catalogue of a Collection of Counterfeits, Imitations and Copies of Works of Art, London: Burlington Fine Arts Club [page: p. 79]
   [comments: Cf. This bowl, or perhaps the smaller two-handled cup decorated with a bird (Cat. no. 78) was shown to illustrate deceptive restoration in the exhibition of 'Counterfeits, Imitations and Copies of Works of Art', held at the BFAC, London, in 1924.]

Other Notes

From its provenance, this bowl may have been among pieces acquired by Volpi in Orvieto, but it does not conform strictly to any of the published Orvieto profiles. The decoration of the rim and sides, and the stylised flowerheads on the plants and peacock's body, however, are analogous to those on other pieces with a secure provenance.

Accession Number

C.82-1927 (Applied Arts)
(Reference Number: 47273; Input Date: 2002-05-03 / Last Edit: 2010-01-19)