C1|1|1|The technical and decorative mastery of the potters in medieval Spain was unrivalled in early fifteenth-century Europe. Their wares, with pale tin-glazed grounds and bold decoration inspired by Islamic ornament, were coveted by the nobility of France and Italy.
The town of Manises, near Valencia, was one of the major centres of ceramic production in Spain during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It specialised in lustreware. The lustre technique produces an iridescent surface sheen. This technique had been introduced into the Iberian Peninsula in the eleventh century by North African Muslim potters, who had initially settled in Murcia and, by the thirteenth century, in Malaga. The more advantageous prospects for potters in the region of Valencia, possibly combined with the entrepreneurial eye of Pedro Boil, Lord of Manises, favoured the settlement of artisans in Manises and its neighbouring towns.
Spanish lustreware was highly sought after in other European countries, where these pieces were considered to be highly sophisticated and nothing like local production. The prominent position of Valencia as the financial capital of the Crown of Aragon during the fifteenth century, with a busy port strategically located for the import and export of products to both Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, assured a steady supply of wares, which became central to the local economy.
Most of the potters were Muslim working for Christian entrepreneurs. However, in contrast to some later lustreware produced in Italy, Spanish examples were not signed, and therefore it is not possible to associate surviving pieces with the names recorded in documents.
The production of fine lustreware was a highly skilled process that involved several stages and a number of artisans. The wares were turned or moulded in clay and left to dry. At this stage, some of them were painted with cobalt blue motifs and fired a first time —the biscuit firing. The pieces were then coated with an opaque mixture of oxides of tin and lead mixed with a special sand and salt. Tin was an expensive commodity, the quantity of which determined the whiteness of the glaze. The second firing in the kiln vitrified the tin glaze and revealed the cobalt blue decoration underneath. The next step of the process was the addition of lustre, a mixture of metals such as copper and silver oxides, combined with red earth and vinegar. Wares were fired for a third and last time in a reducing atmosphere at a lower temperature that allowed the metals to fix on their surface. Finally, polishing produced an iridescent effect.
This beautiful dish is particularly important, both for its armorial shield and its decoration. The shield bears the arms of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the form used between 1419, when Philip the Good inherited the dukedom of Burgundy, and 1429, when he received the order of the Golden Fleece, which is absent here. He commissioned another service, bearing the Golden Fleece, probably between 1429 and 1435, providing early evidence of the export market for these luxury goods. The decoration shows the influence of the Gothic style, and is exceptional in incorporating a wreath of vine shoots encircling the shield. It combines cobalt blue motifs with brownish gold lustre.
The underside is painted with stylised foliate scrolls on a dotted ground and a trefoil shape with shredded edges, known as ‘parsley leaf’, in the centre.
Silver, gold or brown lustre effects were achieved by varying the quantities of silver or copper in the lustre recipe, while the cream-coloured glaze indicates the use of less tin than a white glaze.
The hole pierced near the top end of the rim enabled the dish to be hung for display. C3|1|1|The technical and decorative mastery of the potters in medieval Spain was unrivalled in early fifteenth-century Europe. Their wares, with pale tin-glazed grounds and bold decoration inspired by Islamic ornament, were coveted by the nobility of France and Italy.
The town of Manises, near Valencia, was one of the major centres of ceramic production in Spain during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It specialised in lustreware. The lustre technique produces an iridescent surface sheen. This technique had been introduced into the Iberian Peninsula in the eleventh century by North African Muslim potters, who had initially settled in Murcia and, by the thirteenth century, in Malaga. The more advantageous prospects for potters in the region of Valencia, possibly combined with the entrepreneurial eye of Pedro Boil, Lord of Manises, favoured the settlement of artisans in Manises and its neighbouring towns.
Spanish lustreware was highly sought after in other European countries, where these pieces were considered to be highly sophisticated and nothing like local production. The prominent position of Valencia as the financial capital of the Crown of Aragon during the fifteenth century, with a busy port strategically located for the import and export of products to both Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, assured a steady supply of wares, which became central to the local economy.
Most of the potters were Muslim working for Christian entrepreneurs. However, in contrast to some later lustreware produced in Italy, Spanish examples were not signed, and therefore it is not possible to associate surviving pieces with the names recorded in documents.
The production of fine lustreware was a highly skilled process that involved several stages and a number of artisans. The wares were turned or moulded in clay and left to dry. At this stage, some of them were painted with cobalt blue motifs and fired a first time —the biscuit firing. The pieces were then coated with an opaque mixture of oxides of tin and lead mixed with a special sand and salt. Tin was an expensive commodity, the quantity of which determined the whiteness of the glaze. The second firing in the kiln vitrified the tin glaze and revealed the cobalt blue decoration underneath. The next step of the process was the addition of lustre, a mixture of metals such as copper and silver oxides, combined with red earth and vinegar. Wares were fired for a third and last time in a reducing atmosphere at a lower temperature that allowed the metals to fix on their surface. Finally, polishing produced an iridescent effect.
This magnificent dish exemplifies beautifully the coexistence of two decorative styles in early fifteenth-century Spanish art: Islamic and Gothic.
A shield bearing the royal arms of Castile and Leon, one of the historic realms that would later form part of the Spanish Crown, is depicted in lustre at the centre of the dish. Around this, painted in deep cobalt blue, are four devices representing the Tree of Life radiating from the centre to form a cross, and four panels of pseudo-Kufic script radiating from the centre in the form of a diagonal cross. The script represents the term ‘al-'Afiya’ (well-being), a relatively common expression also found on contemporary carpets. These elements are set against a busy background of panels of scrolls, arcs, meander pattern, and simple foliage scrolls in yellowy gold lustre that belong to the Islamic tradition of geometric and text-based decoration. The underside is painted in lustre with a large eagle amid stylised acacia foliage, and appears to take inspiration from the Gothic style.
The Trees of Life and the panels of pseudo-Kufic script were painted as lustre highlights over the underglaze cobalt blue. Silver, gold or brown lustre effects were achieved by varying the quantities of silver or copper in the lustre recipe, while the cream-coloured glaze indicates the use of less tin than a white glaze.
A pair of holes pierced near the top of the rim enabled the dish to be hung for display. C4|1|1|The technical and decorative mastery of the potters in medieval Spain was unrivalled in early fifteenth-century Europe. Their wares, with pale tin-glazed grounds and bold decoration inspired by Islamic ornament, were coveted by the nobility of France and Italy.
The town of Manises, near Valencia, was one of the major centres of ceramic production in Spain during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It specialised in lustreware. The lustre technique produces an iridescent surface sheen. This technique had been introduced into the Iberian Peninsula in the eleventh century by North African Muslim potters, who had initially settled in Murcia and, by the thirteenth century, in Malaga. The more advantageous prospects for potters in the region of Valencia, possibly combined with the entrepreneurial eye of Pedro Boil, Lord of Manises, favoured the settlement of artisans in Manises and its neighbouring towns.
Spanish lustreware was highly sought after in other European countries, where these pieces were considered to be highly sophisticated and nothing like local production. The prominent position of Valencia as the financial capital of the Crown of Aragon during the fifteenth century, with a busy port strategically located for the import and export of products to both Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, assured a steady supply of wares, which became central to the local economy.
Most of the potters were Muslim working for Christian entrepreneurs. However, in contrast to some later lustreware produced in Italy, Spanish examples were not signed, and therefore it is not possible to associate surviving pieces with the names recorded in documents.
The production of fine lustreware was a highly skilled process that involved several stages and a number of artisans. The wares were turned or moulded in clay and left to dry. At this stage, some of them were painted with cobalt blue motifs and fired a first time —the biscuit firing. The pieces were then coated with an opaque mixture of oxides of tin and lead mixed with a special sand and salt. Tin was an expensive commodity, the quantity of which determined the whiteness of the glaze. The second firing in the kiln vitrified the tin glaze and revealed the cobalt blue decoration underneath. The next step of the process was the addition of lustre, a mixture of metals such as copper and silver oxides, combined with red earth and vinegar. Wares were fired for a third and last time in a reducing atmosphere at a lower temperature that allowed the metals to fix on their surface. Finally, polishing produced an iridescent effect.
A fig leaf or a bell-shaped flower appears prominently at the centre of the well of this elegant bowl. Concentric wreaths of foliage, of a type usually described as ‘ivy leaves’, seem to spring from its stem and extend to the rim. The yellow gold lustre of the leaves has been scratched through to create the illusion of veins, adding detail to the otherwise flat decoration. Patterns with branches of leaves were a favourite design from the first quarter of the fifteenth century, and became particularly popular in Italy, where they were widely copied. The underside of this bowl is glazed and painted in lustre with thirteen concentric circles at approximately equal intervals.
Silver, gold or brown lustre effects were achieved by varying the quantities of silver or copper in the lustre recipe, while the cream-coloured glaze indicates the use of less tin than a white glaze. C5|1|1|The technical and decorative mastery of the potters in medieval Spain was unrivalled in early fifteenth-century Europe. Their wares, with pale tin-glazed grounds and bold decoration inspired by Islamic ornament, were coveted by the nobility of France and Italy.
The town of Manises, near Valencia, was one of the major centres of ceramic production in Spain during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It specialised in lustreware. The lustre technique produces an iridescent surface sheen. This technique had been introduced into the Iberian Peninsula in the eleventh century by North African Muslim potters, who had initially settled in Murcia and, by the thirteenth century, in Malaga. The more advantageous prospects for potters in the region of Valencia, possibly combined with the entrepreneurial eye of Pedro Boil, Lord of Manises, favoured the settlement of artisans in Manises and its neighbouring towns.
Spanish lustreware was highly sought after in other European countries, where these pieces were considered to be highly sophisticated and nothing like local production. The prominent position of Valencia as the financial capital of the Crown of Aragon during the fifteenth century, with a busy port strategically located for the import and export of products to both Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, assured a steady supply of wares, which became central to the local economy.
Most of the potters were Muslim working for Christian entrepreneurs. However, in contrast to some later lustreware produced in Italy, Spanish examples were not signed, and therefore it is not possible to associate surviving pieces with the names recorded in documents.
The production of fine lustreware was a highly skilled process that involved several stages and a number of artisans. The wares were turned or moulded in clay and left to dry. At this stage, some of them were painted with cobalt blue motifs and fired a first time —the biscuit firing. The pieces were then coated with an opaque mixture of oxides of tin and lead mixed with a special sand and salt. Tin was an expensive commodity, the quantity of which determined the whiteness of the glaze. The second firing in the kiln vitrified the tin glaze and revealed the cobalt blue decoration underneath. The next step of the process was the addition of lustre, a mixture of metals such as copper and silver oxides, combined with red earth and vinegar. Wares were fired for a third and last time in a reducing atmosphere at a lower temperature that allowed the metals to fix on their surface. Finally, polishing produced an iridescent effect.
The surface of this spectacular dish is painted exclusively in a brownish-gold lustre on a cream glaze. Except for the coat of arms at its centre, it is covered with the style of intricate lustre decoration that was popular around 1500. Its shape may derive from contemporary silver tableware, which served as a model for Valencian potters. The spiral relief gadrooning around the rim and on the wall of the central boss may have been shaped with the help of moulds, its undulating surface adding to the glistening effect of the lustre. The gadroons are variously patterned with scale work, sprays of flowers and six-spoke wheels. Similar motifs appear in concentric circles separated by bands within the bowl.
The coat of arms is unidentified. It bears the royal arms of Castile (a castle) and Leon (a rampant lion) over a stripped or ‘barruly’ ground, possibly a sign that the individual or family holding this shield of arms was granted a royal recognition or augmentation. The underside is painted with wreaths of acacia foliage and, in the centre of the boss, with a large star-like device.
The raised moulding at the centre of the dish suggests that it could have been designed as an emplacement for a matching ewer, an example of which can be seen in C7.
Silver, gold or brown lustre effects were achieved by varying the quantities of silver or copper in the lustre recipe, while the cream-coloured glaze indicates the use of less tin than a white glaze.
A pair of pierced suspension holes near the top of the rim enabled the dish to be hung for display. C8|1|1|Lustreware was introduced into the Iberian Peninsula in the eleventh century by North African Muslim potters, who had initially settled in Murcia and, by the thirteenth century, in Malaga. The town of Manises, near Valencia, was the main centre for the production of lustreware in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The technique also flourished in other nearby towns.
Initially, most of the potters were Muslim working for Christian entrepreneurs. However, in contrast with some later lustreware produced in Italy, Spanish examples were never signed, and therefore it is not possible to associate surviving pieces with the names recorded in documents.
The production of lustreware was a highly skilled process that involved several stages and a number of artisans. The wares were turned or moulded in clay and let to dry. At this stage, some of them were painted with cobalt blue motifs and fired a first time —the biscuit firing. The pieces were then coated with an opaque mixture of oxides of tin and lead mixed with a special sand and salt. Tin was an expensive commodity, the quantity of which determined the whiteness of the glaze. The second firing in the kiln vitrified the tin glaze and revealed the cobalt blue decoration underneath. The next step of the process was the addition of lustre, a mixture of metals such as copper and silver oxides, combined with red earth and vinegar. Wares were fired for a third and last time in a reducing atmosphere at a lower temperature that allowed the metals to fix on their surface. Finally, polishing produced an iridescent effect.
This large vase has a tall cylindrical shape with an everted rim. Four stout handles with raised ribs are fixed under the rim, providing support, and vertical ribs articulate the otherwise plain body of the vase. It is painted with blue pendants of stylised foliage tied in places with ribbon bows, outlined by creamy white unpainted areas, beyond which the whole surface is lustred in a pale coppery tone.
The upper edge of the rim is painted all round in blue with a series of half circles. Within this is a concentric circle of scrolled foliage and a plain circle in lustre. The interior is glazed but not painted or lustred.
Silver, gold or brown lustre effects were achieved by varying the quantities of silver or copper in the lustre recipe, while the cream-coloured glaze indicates the use of less tin than a white glaze.
Vases of similar shape and strength are still made in southern Italy where they are used as privies. C14|1|1|This broad-rimmed bowl may have been made in Pesaro, on the Adriatic coast of the Marche region of Italy. It dates to the first decade of the sixteenth century. Around the time that it was made, maiolica production in Pesaro was in a period of decline, both for political reasons and because of the deaths of some important potters. Maiolica production would revive in Pesaro in the 1540s, after Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, made the city the focus of court life in place of Urbino, entrenching a situation that had been set in motion a few years earlier under Francesco Maria della Rovere.
The centre of the bowl’s well is painted with two naked putti mounted back-to-back on a dun-coloured, left-facing prancing horse. They dominate the foreground and are set in a low, hilly, yellow and green landscape with stylised trees below an extensive white and blue sky. The well wall is painted in bianco sopra bianco with a repeating pattern of interlacing pointed arches with broad arrow-heads in the interspaces. The wide rim is painted with a wreath of acanthus foliage in dark blue with pale blue highlights and yellow fruit on an orange ground. The outer edge of the rim has an inner blue and an outer white encircling line. The underside is glazed white and painted with three groups of concentric blue circles, one at the rim edge, one at the junction of the rim and the well, and one encircling the well base.
While the subject of the bowl is unusual and its significance unclear, the ‘all antica’ influence is evident in the depiction of the putti and the acanthus wreath border. The term bianco sopra bianco describes decoration in opaque white on an off-white glaze. C15|1|1|Against a dark blue background, this shallow, low-footed bowl is painted with the bust of a young woman who looks to her left with a slightly bemused expression. Her auburn hair is plaited in an arc across the top of her head. She wears a white cap embroidered in blue and brown and a brown cloak with touches of green, yellow, grey and opaque white that is tied at her left shoulder. A cream scroll, inscribed in blue with the name 'Lucretia', passes behind her shoulders and rises curvaceously on either side of her head. The bowl's underside has a bluish-white glaze.
This bowl is attributed to either Castel Durante or Urbino. Castel Durante, now called Urbania, was an important pottery production centre in the sixteenth century. Within the Duchy of Urbino in the Marche region of Italy, it is quite close to the small but prestigious town of Urbino, the seat of the della Rovere dukes of Urbino. Urbino was the foremost maiolica-producing town in Renaissance Italy. Some leading figures involved in the production of maiolica there came from Castel Durante.
The bowl is an example of a type of maiolica known as 'belle donne' ('beautiful women'). The concept of 'belle donne' maiolica has its origins in metallic medals from Classical antiquity that celebrated virtuous women. In emulation of these medals, similar medals were produced in Renaissance Italy. Comparably, 'belle donne' maiolica refers back in various ways to the Classical origin of this type of representation. Emulation of the style of Classical antiquity as understood in the Italian Renaissance is termed 'all'antica'.
While some 'belle donne' maiolica depicts specific heroines of Classical antiquity, other examples extoll the beauty and virtue of local contemporaries. Many examples inscribed with names in use in Renaissance Italy are not portraits of individual women, but generic depictions. While some were probably commissioned, perhaps by suitors wishing to flatter the subject of their affections, others are likely to have been produced speculatively for the general market. See also C17, C19 and C21.
Lucretia is a semi-legendary heroine from Classical antiquity who died around 508 BCE. In his 'History of Rome' the Roman historian Livy gave an account of how Lucretia, who was renowned for her virtue, killed herself to preserve her honour after being raped by Sextus Tarquin, a son of the King of Rome. These events were the immediate cause of the revolution that resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the Roman Republic.
During the Renaissance, Lucretia was celebrated for her virtue in choosing death rather than living with the shame of her dishonour. The embroidered cap worn by the young woman depicted on the bowl is contemporary. The bowl may have been made speculatively rather than commissioned for a particular woman named Lucretia. Either way, the recipient of such a gift may well have understood it to be a compliment to her virtue. C16|1|1|This large ewer stand is thought to have been made in Cafaggiolo or Gagliano in Tuscany around 1545–55. The small and exclusive maiolica workshop at Cafaggiolo, a Medici villa north of Florence, was established in 1498 by two potters from Montelupo, Piero and Stefano di Dimitri Schiavone. The workshop produced maiolica of great quality until around the mid-sixteenth century. It used a stylised ‘SP’ mark that may have been devised with reference to its founders. The mark was also used by a workshop at the Ubaldini villa in Gagliano, not far from Cafaggiolo. This ewer stand is not marked.
The colours of this piece are blue, dark brown, orange, yellow and green. In the small central recess of the ewer stand the winged horse Pegasus is depicted ascending a vertical precipice, with a flat landscape in the distance. Beyond the two raised moulded bands encircling the centre of the stand, the surface of the well, which has a further raised, moulded band, is painted with a repeating pattern comprising five pairs of interlacing yellow and brown oak branches on a predominantly pale green ground with five blue and five brown regularly placed insertions. The flanged rim edge is yellow. The underside is glazed pink, and much white glaze from the front has run over it. There are two holes near the top for suspending the stand for storage or display.
Maiolica sets comprising an ewer and shallow ewer stand were made in considerable numbers in sixteenth-century Italy, but the stands have survived in far greater numbers than their more vulnerable companion ewers. The sets would have been used for hand rinsing during dining.
The oak-leaf and acorn pattern depicted on C16 was described by Cipriano Piccolpasso of Castel Durante in his manuscript treatise ‘Li tre libri dell’arte del vasaio’, or ‘The three books of the potter’s art’, written in about 1557. He called the pattern ‘cerquate’, referencing the oak tree, a flattering allusion to the oak tree emblem of the Della Rovere dukes of Urbino. He wrote of the motif that, ‘These are much used among us for the veneration and duty that we owe to the Oak Tree, in the shade of which we live happily, so much so that one can call it painting in the Urbino style’. The oak-leaf pattern was fashionable from the mid-1520s, especially in the Urbino area, but it was also used on maiolica produced elsewhere, for example on a large dish made in the workshop of Maestro Ludovico in Venice around 1540 (Victoria and Albert Museum, inv. 4438-1858). As on the Wallace Collection’s ewer stand, on flatware the pattern usually covers much of the surface, except for a small central roundel. The motif was also moulded in relief, for example on C18 in the Wallace Collection. C19|1|1|Against a dark blue background, the plate is painted with the bust of a young woman who is turned slightly to her left and looks ahead and a little to her right. Her fair hair is worn with a central parting and plaited at the front. She wears a yellow turban with a green and black jewel attached to it at the centre front. Her white blouse is embroidered at the collar with blue thread and the bodice of her dress is coloured green, orange and yellow with a blue border and an applied white trim attached at either shoulder. A cream scroll, inscribed in blue 'Diamante Bella' ('Beautiful Diamond'), passes behind her neck and extends curvaceously on either side of her head. The plate's underside has an off-white glaze. It is painted in blue with the date 1534 in the centre of the shallow foot and in the border with four stylized floral scrolls alternating with four diamond-shaped motifs, each with six symmetrically placed petal-like projections. There is a post-production hole for suspension above the jewel on the young woman's turban.
This plate was made in Italy, perhaps in Tuscany or the Marche region. In the sixteenth century, Siena, Montelupo and Cafaggiolo in Tuscany and Urbino, Castel Durante (modern Urbania) and Pesaro in the Marche were important maiolica-producing towns.
The plate is an exemplary example of a type of maiolica known as 'belle donne' ('beautiful women'). The concept of 'belle donne' maiolica has its origins in metallic medals from Classical antiquity that celebrated virtuous women. In emulation of these medals, similar medals were produced in Renaissance Italy. Comparably, 'belle donne' maiolica refers back in various ways to the Classical origin of this type of representation. Emulation of the style of Classical antiquity as understood in the Italian Renaissance is termed 'all'antica'.
While some 'belle donne' maiolica depicts specific heroines of Classical antiquity, other examples extoll the beauty and virtue of local contemporaries. Many examples inscribed with names in use in Renaissance Italy are not portraits of individual women, but genetic depictions. While some were probably commissioned, perhaps by suitors wishing to flatter the subject of their affections, others are likely to have been produced speculatively for the general market. The young woman depicted on this plate wears contemporary dress. The plate may have been made speculatively rather than commissioned for a particular woman named Diamante. See also C15, C17 and C21. C25|1|1|This figure was possibly made in Gubbio, a small town in the Umbria region of Italy. In the early sixteenth century Gubbio was renowned for the maiolica embellished with the ruby lustre that was made in Maestro Giorgio Andreoli’s workshop.
Apparently serene, this image of the Virgin and Child enthroned under a canopy in fact alludes to Christ’s Crucifixion, for the Child holds a bird, symbol of the soul’s flight after death. Small devotional reliefs, displayed in homes and on street corners, were popular in Italy until quite recently. This shrine is one of only four devotional reliefs set within Gothic niches to survive in maiolica. The small Umbrian town of Gubbio was renowned for its lustrewares at this period, especially the distinctive red used here together with a golden brown lustre. Maiolica reliefs decorated with lustre are extremely rare. C27|1|1|This glorious large dish was made in Deruta, a small town near Perugia in the Umbria region of Italy. Deruta was the main centre for maiolica production in the region. Its prominence began in the later fifteenth century, when it became renowned for its golden lustre ware. The young woman depicted on this early example epitomises the ideal of feminine beauty as immortalised by such artists as Perugino and Pinturicchio, who were working locally to great acclaim around the turn of the century. Perhaps the dish was a betrothal gift, because the inscription on the scroll means ‘My heart has only hope’, and the pendant may house a portrait of her lover or a mirror showing his reflection. C31|1|1|This ewer stand was made in Deruta or Gubbio, small towns in the Umbria region of Italy. Deruta was the main centre for maiolica production in the region. Its prominence began in the later fifteenth century, when it became renowned for its golden lustre ware. In the early sixteenth century Gubbio was renowned for the maiolica embellished with the ruby lustre that was made in Maestro Giorgio Andreoli’s workshop. In the current state of knowledge, if lacking evidence such as a workshop mark or inscription, it is not possible to determine whether a piece with both gold and ruby lustre was made in Deruta or Gubbio.
Maiolica sets comprising an ewer and shallow ewer stand were made in considerable numbers in sixteenth-century Italy, but the stands have survived in far greater numbers than their more vulnerable companion ewers. The sets would have been used for hand rinsing during dining. Many ewer stands made in Deruta depict half-length portraits of young women.
Within the central retaining ring of this ewer there is a profile bust of a young woman, facing left, depicted in gold and ruby lustre against a dark blue and apple green background. Beyond the golden lustred ring, the well is ornamented with gadroons encircled by a band of interlinked circular recesses. The rim border is painted with a continuous line of stylized flower buds. The underside is glazed buff and painted in ruby lustre with concentric circles in four groups of three circles. C32|1|1|This spectacular large, lustred display dish was made in Deruta, a small town near Perugia in the Umbria region of Italy. Deruta was the main centre for maiolica production in the region. Its prominence began in the later fifteenth century, when it became renowned for its golden lustre ware.
The dish is coloured blue and white with gold lustre, a typical palette for large Deruta display dishes of the first half of the sixteenth century. At the centre of the dish a Turkish lancer rides his horse to the left in a low landscape with an extensive sky. A narrow, lustred wall separates this scene from the broad rim, which is divided by radial sprays with buds, each flanked by a zigzag lines on gold grounds, into six panels filled alternatively with scale-pattern or a palmette. The narrow rim edge is lustred. The underside has a low foot ring and is covered in yellow lead glaze.
The figure of a turbaned horseman often occurs on large Deruta dishes, though the majority are not lustred. The Turkish horseman dishes may have been made at Deruta from as early as the 1520s to around 1560. It has been suggested that they may have been produced from around 1529, when the Ottoman siege of Vienna, the capital of the Hapsburg Austrian Empire, was successfully repulsed.
The horse depicted on this plate is similar in style to those on a plate in the British Museum that is dated 1554 and attributed as perhaps being by the circle of Giacomo Mancini. Giacomo Mancini was a member of a longstanding, leading Deruta pottery family. Known also as ‘El Frate’ (‘The Friar’), he may be first recorded in a document dating from 1540 and is thought to have died by 1581.
Variants of this style of sectional border decoration were in use on large, lustred dishes made in Deruta for several decades in the earlier sixteenth century. Similar borders also occur with a wider range of colours on non-lustred dishes from Deruta, such as a dish depicting a Turkish horseman with the date range of around 1520–60 in the British Museum (inv. 1855,3-13,3). The earliest firmly datable example of a sectional border on a large Deruta dish is an example in the British Museum that can be dated by the coat of arms depicted to 1522–3 (British Museum, inv. 1855,12–1,62), while the latest datable example has a coat of arms as borne from 1559 to 1565 (Musée Ariana, Geneva). C34|1|1|This large dish was made in Deruta, a small town near Perugia in the Umbria region of Italy. Deruta was the main centre for maiolica production in the region. Its prominence began in the later fifteenth century, when it became renowned for its golden lustre ware.
The colours of the dish are blue, yellow, green and opaque white on a thin glaze much stained with turquoise. The well is painted with a coat of arms on a beribboned shield edged with grotesque masks and acanthus buds and with the head of a boy in place of a crest. The coat of arms is on a background of flowers painted in ‘bianco sopra bianco’, opaque white on an off-white glaze. The broad border is painted in the same technique with a scale-work pattern and has a flanged rim. The underside is covered with a greenish-yellow lead glaze. There are two holes for suspension on the foot ring.
The coat of arms (azure, on a bend argent three trilobate leaves vert) is unidentified.
‘Bianco sopra bianco’ (‘white on white’) decoration was described and illustrated by Cipriano Piccolpasso of Castel Durante in his manuscript treatise ‘Li tre libri dell’arte del vasaio’, or ‘The three books of the potter’s art’, written in about 1557. He referred to it as ‘Sopra Bianchi’ and remarked that it was a type of decoration associated with Urbino. He may have been referring to the Duchy of Urbino rather than the town of Urbino specifically. Its earliest known use is on a service made for Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, and his wife, Beatrice of Aragon, in about 1486–88 in Pesaro in the Duchy of Urbino. C36|1|1|This large, shallow monochrome dish, coloured blue and white, depicts scenes from the so-called ‘Quos ego’ (‘Whom I’) engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi within a border of beads comprising a repeating pattern of a single long oval bead alternating with two round ones. The largest, rectangular central panel shows Neptune, god of the sea, holding a trident and standing in his shell chariot drawn by hippocampi, creatures that have the fore parts of a horse and the hind parts of a fish. In the scene above on the left, Juno, the leading goddess of Olympus, sits on her chariot borne by two peacocks. She confronts Venus, goddess of love, who is shown on the right, seated on her chariot drawn by doves, with her son Cupid at her feet. Between them, in a spandrel, are the head and wings of a cherub. The scroll to the left of the central scene is inscribed AEOLVS IMMITIT VENTOS IVNÔE PRECÂE (Aeolus sends out the winds at the prayer of Juno). The scroll on the right is inscribed SOLATVR VENDEREM DICTIS PAT ER IPSE DOLĒ TEM (The father himself consoles the grieving Venus with words). The underside is covered with a yellow lead glaze over which has been painted the modern inscription ‘Quos Ego or Neptune appeasing the storm’. The foot-ring is pierced with two suspension holes. The rim was reduced at a later date and the same may be true of the foot ring.
Both the subject-matter and border of beads on this dish take their inspiration from Classical antiquity. Such emulation, as understood during the Italian Renaissance, is termed all’antica. The subject of the dish is taken the first century BCE Roman poet Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’, lines 34–156. Neptune is enraged to discover the storm at sea produced by the god of the winds, Aeolus, at Juno’s request. Juno supports the Greeks in their war against the Trojans and wishes to destroy the Trojan prince Aeneas’s ships. Venus, Aeneas’s mother, champions the Trojans. Neptune calms the winds, bringing an end to the storm and thus saving Aeneas and his companions. The scenes depicting Neptune, Juno and Venus, together with the inscriptions on the scrolls, are taken from Marcantonio Raimondi’s multi-scene engraving known as ‘Quos ego’ (‘Whom I’), which was made in 1516 after designs by Raphael. The print, one of Raimondi’s most ambitious compositions, was very popular with maiolica painters as a source for scenes and for individual figures. Some scenes, including those depicting Juno and Venus, were copied in reverse by Giovanni Antonio da Brescia soon after the print’s publication. On C36 they are depicted as arranged in Raimondi’s print. The words ‘Quos ego’ are taken from Book 1 of the ‘Aeneid’, line 135. These words were spluttered by Neptune in his anger about the storm. In the central scene on the dish, as in the print, Neptune calms the storm. Each of the three scenes on the dish shows the key motif from its print source, omitting additional elements.
The inscriptions shown on scrolls on the dish appear on rectangular cartouches on the print. C39|1|1|This dish was made in Deruta, a small town near Perugia in the Umbria region of Italy. Deruta was the main centre for maiolica production in the region. Its prominence began in the later fifteenth century, when it became renowned for its golden lustre ware. The dish was probably painted by Giacomo Mancini, whose family ran the longstanding Mancini pottery workshop, one of the leading workshops in Deruta. Giacomo Mancini, known also as ‘El Frate’ (‘The Friar’), may be first recorded in a document dating from 1540 and is thought to have died by 1581.
The dish is painted with a series of incidents from Canto XXII of Ludovico Ariosto’s epic romance ‘Orlando Furioso’. The setting is a mountainous landscape in France. Following the order of the narrative, in the centre of the middle ground the English knight Astolfo leads his horse Rabican and the Hippogriff, Ruggiero’s original mount. The scene in the left middle ground, below Pinabello’s castle, is probably intended to show Ruggiero overcoming Samsonet, the first of the four opponents he encounters near the castle. Ruggiero’s three remaining opponents, Grifon, Aquilant and Guidone, accidentally see the blinding light that radiates from Ruggiero’s magic shield, which he had thought covered. In the right foreground, two of them lie, stunned by the shield’s light, in front of Ruggiero’s beloved, Bradamante, and her mounted companions. In the left foreground Ruggiero hurls the magic shield into a well, ashamed that he has inadvertently vanquished three of his opponents through the light of the shield, whereas he had hoped to overpower them in armed combat. The colours are blue, buff, orange, yellow, green, manganese purple and black. The rim is yellow. The underside is thinly glazed off-white, with the colour of the ground showing through in some places. The dish does not have a foot.
This dish is an example of ‘istoriato’ maiolica, in which a narrative or figurative scene is painted all over the surface of the piece as though it were an artist’s canvas. Giacomo Mancini was influenced by potters from the Urbino tradition in favouring ‘istoriato’ maiolica. He favoured two shapes that were used predominantly by pottery painters of the Urbino school, and which were well suited to ‘istoriato’ decoration: large flat dishes with a small rim and low-footed bowls (see C37). While the depiction of the rocks and the background are close to signed works by ‘El Frate’, it is possible that the dish is by another member of the Mancini family, such as his cousin Paride Francioli.
The Italian writer and diplomat Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533) is best known for ‘Orlando Furioso’, which was first published in 1516, although it wasn’t until 1532 that the extended, definitive third edition appeared. The poem’s popularity is reflected by the numerous examples of maiolica that derive their subjects from it. Scenes and heads of characters from the poem were painted on maiolica between the 1520s and the 1540s. For an example depicting heads see Wallace Collection C53.The painters who depicted scenes from the poem, sometimes as components of sets, include Francesco Xanto Avelli, Nicola da Urbino and Giacomo Mancini. Mancini, who may have been the painter of this dish, painted several pieces with scenes derived from woodcuts in an illustrated edition of the poem published in Venice in 1542 by Gabriele Giolito de’Ferrari. Some of these are dated 1545 and signed as painted by ‘El Frate’ in Deruta (for example, Victoria and Albert Museum, C.2198-1910).
The scene depicted on C39 is based on the woodcut at the head of Canto XXII in the 1542 illustrated edition of the poem. The painter has emphasized the location and drama of the scene by replacing the grove of trees in which the mounted Ruggiero contends with his unhorsed opponent on the left in the print with the castle looming precariously above them on the dish. C42|1|1|This shallow bowl was probably made in Urbino. Urbino, a small but prestigious town in the Duchy of Urbino, in the Marche region of Italy, was the ducal capital of the dukes of Urbino. It was the foremost maiolica-producing town in Renaissance Italy.
The bowl is painted over the upper surface with symmetrically balanced grotesque ornament in grisaille on a dark blue ground. At the centre a rectangular plaque inscribed with the date 1526. Above it there is a winged mask below a vase of fruit, below it a vase set on three ball feet. A pair of outward-facing opposed griffon-like creatures flank the plaque and mask, their tails terminating at the top of the fruit-filled vase. The lower vase is flanked by a pair of inward-facing creatures with male heads and serpentine bodies, their tails intertwining with those of the griffon-like creatures above and terminating in leaves. Further foliate elements enrich the composition. The rim is yellow. The underside is glazed pinkish buff. The original low foot has been ground down to resemble a foot-ring.
This type of decoration, comprising carefully balanced ornament incorporating components such as the hybrid creatures, masks and foliage seen here, is known as ‘grotesque’ ornament. It takes its ultimate inspiration from Classical Antiquity. The discovery of the underground remains of the Roman emperor Nero’s Golden House in Rome around 1480 was an important factor in the popularity of this style during the Renaissance. The wall paintings in the Golden House included playful ornament comprising fantastical creatures and stylised foliage arranged symmetrically against a dark background colour. This style became known during the Renaissance as grotesque due to its having been found underground. It was one component of the iconography that came to be referred to as ‘alla antica’ – in the style of the ancients. Grotesque ornament was disseminated through prints in the early sixteenth century, a period when dark-ground grotesques became a popular motif on Italian Renaissance maiolica. Cipriano Piccolpasso of Castel Durante illustrated this style of ornament in his manuscript treatise ‘Li tre libri dell’arte del vasaio’, or ‘The three books of the potter’s art’, written in about 1557. He described it as ‘grotesche’ or ‘candelieri’ and observed that grotesques had almost fallen out of use at the time of writing.
This bowl is one of a group of pieces decorated with grotesques in a similar manner and dated between 1521 and 1531, all, or at least most of which John Mallet has proposed are probably by the same hand. The influence of Nicola da Urbino, who worked in Urbino, suggests Urbino as their place of production (J. V. G. Mallet and Franz Adrian Dreier, ‘The Hockemeyer Collection: Maiolica and Glass’, Bremen 1998, p. 230). Mallet has subsequently suggested that the so-called ‘Master of the Apollo Basin’ (see C85), who he considers worked mainly in Urbino, may have painted grotesques in the 1520s, among them possibly C42.
The bowl is virtually identical in dimension to a bowl in the British Museum with the same layout that is almost certainly by the same hand and is dated 1529. Their difference in dates strengthens an argument for their painter or painters using drawings or stencils that could remain with a workshop over a prolonged period and indicates that more than one painter could produce almost identical works. Pieces with the type of decoration of C42 have traditionally been attributed to Castel Durante, but there is a lack of convincing evidence from the 1520s to support this (see Dora Thornton and Timothy Wilson, ‘Italian Renaissance Ceramics. A catalogue of the British Museum collection’, The British Museum Press 2009, cat. no. 217). C46|1|1|This dish is painted with a group of eight naked boys, the two in the centre front winged putti or cupids, with hands linked dance in a circle on a platform framed by a swagged curtain in front of an elaborately ornamented arched doorway framing a mountainous landscape with a walled town. The colours are blue, buff, orange, yellow, green, purple, black and opaque white. The underside is glazed pale buff with areas of discolouring. The low foot has been ground away to resemble a foot ring.
This dish is attributed to Francesco Xanto Avelli, familiarly known as Xanto. Much is known about the work of Xanto, due to the information that he inscribed on many of his works, the wide-ranging and imaginatively composed subjects that he painted to a high standard, and his prolific output. Xanto was from Rovigo in the Veneto region of northeast Italy, but by at least 1530 he was working in Urbino, a small but prestigious town in the Duchy of Urbino, in the Marche region of Italy, which was the ducal capital of the dukes of Urbino. It was the foremost maiolica-producing town in Renaissance Italy. In 1531 Xanto married into a family of Urbino potters. He is mentioned in Urbino documents until 1542, but he is not known to have had his own workshop.
Unusually for a maiolica painter, between 1530 and 1542 Xanto frequently signed and often dated his work, so that its’ develop during that period is well documented. This unsigned dish is attributed to Xanto working in Urbino around 1527-28. It is either a late example from the period during the 1520s when it is generally accepted that he was using the initials ‘F.R’ as a signature on some works or an early example of the style adopted around 1527-30 on pieces attributed to Xanto which have inscriptions terminating with a flourish resembling a ‘y’ or a Greek letter.
Xanto’s literary aspirations and knowledge of Italian poetry were exceptional for a maiolica painter. In addition to inscribing extracts from poems on maiolica, in the 1530s he wrote a sonnet sequence flattering Francesco Maria Della Rovere I, Duke of Urbino. Urbino was renowned for its ‘istoriato’ maiolica, in which a single scene is painted over the entire surface of the piece. Xanto, who specialised in ‘istoriato’ maiolica, was very skilled at exploiting the form of a piece in the arrangement of his composition.A distinguishing feature of Xanto’s work is his sophisticated and creative use of a ‘cut and paste’ technique in which he copied figures from prints and changed their identity, clothing and context for inclusion in his compositions. He drew most frequently on prints by Marcantonio Raimondi and his associates after Raphael and his school, as is the case here.
For the dancing cupids on this dish, Xanto has closely copied an entire engraving. They are after a version of the ‘Dance of Cupids’ engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi after Raphael or from the copy attributed to Marco Dente da Ravenna. Xanto used individual figures from this print on a number of later pieces. It was also a popular source for other maiolica painters. C47|1|1|The front of this exquisitely beautiful ‘istoriato’ bowl is painted over entire surface in pastel colours with Narcissus at the fountain of love. At the centre, Narcissus leans over the lower basin of the two-tiered fountain of love, gazing at his reflection in the water. On the finial of the upper basin Cupid, the god of love in Classical mythology, stands on one foot, blindfolded and holding his bow. On the left the stone figure of the lovesick nymph Echo had wandered restlessly in her quest for Narcissus. On the right, a group of nymphs, also lovelorn for Narcissus, watch him as he looks longingly at his reflection in the fountain. The rim is yellow. The colours are blue, green, grey, orange, yellow, purple, brown, black and opaque white. The underside is glazed with rather dirty white.
The story of Narcissus and Echo is told by the first century Roman poet Ovid in his epic poem ‘Metamorphoses’, in which he tells tales of transformation. The handsome youth Narcissus, desired by men and women, was proud and hard-hearted, disdaining his suitors. The nymph Echo, who could only repeat the last few words she heard spoken, fell in love with him. Rejected, she wasted away util her body turned to stone and only her echoing voice remained. Narcissus was fated to experience himself the misery that he had imposed on others. He fell in love with his own reflection. Eventually realising this, he languished and died. His body was transformed into the flower that takes his name.This bowl is attributed to Francesco Xanto Avelli, familiarly known as Xanto. Much is known about the work of Xanto, due to the information that he inscribed on many of his works, the wide-ranging and imaginatively composed subjects that he painted to a high standard, and his prolific output. Xanto was from Rovigo in the Veneto region of northeast Italy, but by at least 1530 he was working in Urbino, a small but prestigious town in the Duchy of Urbino, in the Marche region of Italy, which was the ducal capital of the dukes of Urbino. It was the foremost maiolica-producing town in Renaissance Italy. In 1531 Xanto married into a family of Urbino potters. He is mentioned in Urbino documents until 1542, but he is not known to have had his own workshop.
Unusually for a maiolica painter, between 1530 and 1542 Xanto frequently signed and often dated his work, so that its’ develop during that period is well documented. This unsigned bowl is attributed to Xanto working in the Duchy of Urbino around 1525-26, during a period in the 1520s when it is generally accepted that he sometimes used the initials ‘F.R’ as a signature.
Xanto’s literary aspirations and knowledge of Italian poetry were exceptional for a maiolica painter. In addition to inscribing extracts from poems on maiolica, in the 1530s he wrote a sonnet sequence flattering Francesco Maria Della Rovere I, Duke of Urbino. Urbino was renowned for its ‘istoriato’ maiolica, in which a single scene is painted over the entire surface of the piece. Xanto, who specialised in ‘istoriato’ maiolica, was very skilled at exploiting the form of a piece in the arrangement of his composition.A distinguishing feature of Xanto’s work is his sophisticated and creative use of a ‘cut and paste’ technique in which he copied figures from prints and changed their identity, clothing and context for inclusion in his compositions. He drew most frequently on prints by Marcantonio Raimondi and his associates after Raphael and his school. However, neither the composition of the scene on this bowl nor any of the individual components of it are known to be derived from prints and they are probably original to Xanto. C48|1|1|This bowl was made in Faenza, a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy that formed part of the territory of the Papal States in the sixteenth century. Faenza is renowned for its maiolica production. Around the mid-sixteenth century potters there developed a new style of maiolica, ‘Faenza white’, for which they took advantage of the high quality of the local tin glazes to produce pieces with less labour-intensive decoration that met with great success.
This bowl has a ‘berettino’ glaze. The orange-haired woman shown almost three-quarter length at the centre of the bowl is a personification of Temperance, one of the four Cardinal Virtues. She looks up at an inverted decanter in her raised right hand, from which she pours liquid into a decanter in her left hand. She is dressed in Classical costume and depicted against a plain yellow background. The well wall is decorated with concentric circles of ornament framed by a pair with a rope pattern motif. The broad border has a dark blue ground and ‘berettino’ grotesque ornament comprising symmetrically balanced pairs of dolphins flanking cockleshell ‘trophies’ at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, alternating with winged heads, amidst foliate scrolls. Opaque white has been used for details and highlights throughout. The underside is painted with alternately orange and dark blue concentric circles.
‘Berettino’ is a tin glaze tinted blue. The shade and density of the blue varies according to the quantity of cobalt used. The style of grotesque border ornament on a ‘berettino’ glaze represented by C48 became a standard one for the borders of Faenza maiolica from around 1520 (see C49 and C57). The pairs of disc-like motifs within scrolling foliate ornament are a characteristic feature of these borders. The arms of some leading Florentine families are represented on pieces from armorial services with this style of border that were made in Faenza during the mid-1520s. Some of these services may have been made in the Bergantini workshop, one of the most important in Faenza during the first half of the sixteenth century.
The representation of a human figure with a recognisable associated object, or attribute, to symbolise an abstract concept, was a device used in Classical antiquity. It was popular during the Renaissance as a means of personifying moral qualities. Temperance is one of the four Cardinal Virtues thought attainable through discipline, together with Justice, Prudence and Fortitude. Temperance is often depicted, as here, decanting liquid from one vessel into another, symbolising the diluting of wine with water in order to moderate the effect of the wine. Female figures associated with specific virtues were a popular theme for maiolica decoration. See, for example, Wallace Collection C21, C33 and C108. C50|1|1|This trencher was made in Urbino or the Urbino district. Urbino, a small but prestigious town in the Duchy of Urbino, in the Marche region of Italy, was the ducal capital of the dukes of Urbino. It was the foremost maiolica-producing town in Renaissance Italy. By the mid-sixteenth century maiolica production was prolific in the Duchy.
In the slight depression at the centre of the trencher, on a dark blue ground, there are busts of a woman and a man. The man is behind the woman’s right shoulder and slightly lower than her. He looks at her while she appears to be turning her head towards him. They are flanked by the two ends of a scroll inscribed ‘Ominia per peconia fata son’ (‘All things are done by money’). The broad border is painted with a repeating knot pattern in yellow with square trellis areas and some other small spaces filled with orange. The rim is yellow. Other colours are grey, manganese and olive green.The underside is glazed pink.
Depictions of busts of a woman and a man with an accompanying scroll inscribed with an inscription on the theme of love are not uncommon. The lady’s large white headdress with blue embroidery occurs on comparable examples dating between about 1520 and 1540. The word ‘Ominia’ inscribed on C50 seems certainly intended for ‘Omnia’, so that the inscription means ‘All things are done by money’. This has enabled the source for the subject on the trencher to be identified as a story that exists in several versions and is thought to be eastern in origin. A version by Francesco Bello of Ferrara was first published there in 1509 as the opening story in a collection titled ‘Il Mambriano’. The book was so popular that eleven editions were published between 1509 and 1554. The story that inspired the Wallace Collection’s trencher was also published on its own in pamphlet form and remained in print until the nineteenth century. Bello’s version concerns Princess Alceima and a wealthy young man called Cassandro who has a garden with a fountain that proclaims ‘che omnia per pecunia facta sente’. Princess Alceima’s father, the king, tells Cassandro that he can marry the princess if he can prove the truth of this motto. In another version of the story the young man is a prince who builds a palace that has a motto on its front that translates, ‘Money can do everything’. The king tells him that if he can persuade his daughter to speak within three days he can marry her, but otherwise he will be beheaded. The couple on the trencher undoubtedly represent the princess and her suitor.
Interlaced knot patterns (‘groppi’/knots) were widely used on maiolica by the time that Cipriano Piccolpasso of Castel Durante illustrated examples in his manuscript treatise ‘Li tre libri dell’arte del vasaio’, or ‘The three books of the potter’s art’, written in about 1557. Such patterns have a very long history, but they were a popular feature of Islamic ornament. The more immediate source of inspiration on maiolica is likely to have been a series of six engravings after designs by Leonardo da Vinci that were copied by Albrecht Dürer in 1506-07. By the 1520s the prints were being used to illustrate pattern books for embroidery and sewing for the use women and girls. C51|1|1|Drug jars made from tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) were used extensively in Italian apothecaries in the 16th century. They were well suited to this purpose, being impermeable and easy to clean, while their decoration often included a scroll or cartouche inscribed with a description of the contents. These took both liquid and solid form, and were wide-ranging, even including spices such as cinnamon and pepper. Spouted drug jars such as this one were for liquid (wed) remedies. Closely comparable jars are inscribed as containing syrop, oil and honey. The inscriptions identifying the contents, in Gothic or in Roman script, often appear in abbreviated form. The Latin inscription near the base of this example, ‘D Duob Radicib’ (De Duobus Radicibus) translates to ‘of two roots’. The development of printing in the later 15th century contributes to an increased knowledge about and standardization of remedies. These could be kept clean by the application of a ceramic lid or a paper or fabric cover tied below the jar’s rim.
Pharmacy jars were produced in sets. The number and variety of the containers carried, depending on their destination. A large set might be ordered for the pharmacy of a hospital or monastic order, while a set for domestic use would be less extensive. Their decoration could include the initials of an institution or the coat of arms of a noble family.
This jar is one of about 300 similarly and strikingly decorated vessels of various shapes. They were made in the Pompei family workshop in Castelli, a small and remote hill town in the mountainous Abruzzi region of Italy. From the 16th century, ceramic production was the main staple of the town’s economy. The vessels share a predominantly white tin glaze. The simple figurative elements are naïve and cartoon-like. On the wet drug jars, the spouts and the arrangement of the zones of decoration are formulaic, enabling rapid production.
The vessels in this group were not attributed to Castelli until the 1980s, when Claudio de Pompeis, a descendant of the 16th-century Pompei family, was able to show through archaeological evidence that they had been made in the Pompei workshop. Orazio Pompei was probably the head of this important workshop. His name is inscribed on a closely comparable jar, made to contain syrup of endive juice. Drug jars on this style were named the ‘Orsini-Colanna pharmacy jars’ due to the presence of a bear (‘orso’) embracing a column (‘colona’) emblematic of two Roman families, the Orsini and Colonna, on an example in the British Museum. However, it is now thought that the vessels are from several sets. C55|1|1|This shallow bowl with a low foot was made in Faenza, a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy that formed part of the territory of the Papal States in the sixteenth century. Faenza is renowned for its maiolica production. Around the mid-sixteenth century potters there developed a new style of maiolica, ‘Faenza white’, for which they took advantage of the high quality of the local tin glazes to produce pieces with less labour-intensive decoration that met with great success.
The bowl is painted all over the upper surface, on a pale blue (‘berettino’) ground, with a group of young people in a landscape. They comprise five men and five women in contemporary dress, all of them seated on grass except for a man who plays a lute and stands with his back to a tree. One woman points to Cupid, who looks down at them from the sky and holds his bow. They are at the edge of a dense forest. To the right, below them, a boat with two masts is at sea and across the water there is a town with a mountainous landscape receding into the distance behind it. The colours are dark blue, various tones of brown, orange, yellow, grey, and opaque white. Red-brown is applied very thickly and stands out in relief. The grey blends with the blue ground and produces a dark green for the grass and trees. The underside is glazed blue and painted in dark blue with four sketchy floral motifs separated by zigzag rays. The date 1534 is painted in blue at the centre. A yellow line follows the inside edge of the foot, forming a circle. During the firing process the bowl's profile became very contorted.
This bowl is an example of ‘istoriato’ maiolica, in which a single scene is painted over the entire surface of the piece. It is quite an early piece of Faentine ‘istoriato’. The presence of Cupid, who has the group in his sights, the even numbers of men and women, the convivial pastoral setting and the lutanist playing his instrument all suggest that this is a group of lovers and that the subject is a romantic idyll. Romantic love was a popular them on sixteenth-century maiolica. Perhaps the woman with her back to the rest of the group partners the lutanist. Musicians, and young male lovers in particular, were a popular theme on early Faentine ‘istoriato’ and ‘berettino’ maiolica. A bowl in the British Museum that was made in Faenza around 1525–35 depicts a lovers’ quarrel, with musical instruments and an open score lying discarded on the ground (Dora Thornton and Timothy Wilson, ‘Italian Renaissance Ceramics. A catalogue of the British Museum collection’, London 2009, cat. no. 88).
The prominence of the light blue and yellow palette is a characteristic of Faentine maiolica. ‘Berettino’, a tin glaze tinted blue, was often used there. The shade and density of the blue glaze varies according to the quantity of cobalt used. C58|1|1|This shallow bowl was made in Faenza, a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy that formed part of the territory of the Papal States in the sixteenth century. Faenza is renowned for its maiolica production. Around the mid-sixteenth century potters there developed a new style of maiolica, ‘Faenza white’, for which they took advantage of the high quality of the local tin glazes to produce pieces with less labour-intensive decoration that met with great success.
The bowl is painted over its entire upper surface with a depiction of ‘The Kiss of Judas’. The scene is set in the Garden of Gethsemane, which is depicted as a rocky terrain with a view of Jerusalem in the background. In the middle ground, amidst Roman soldiers and Christ’s disciples, Judas kisses Christ. In the foreground, one of Christ’s followers cuts off an ear of the high priest’s servant. The colours are blue, yellow, dark brown, red-brown, buff, green, and opaque white. The underside is glazed with yellow and painted all over except in the centre with a pattern of scales in blue and a few encircling lines in blue and orange. A plaque painted in the centre is inscribed in dark blue: '1539 ADX4 DE NVVEMBRE XXXXXX'
The foot has been ground away, leaving the semblance of a foot ring.This bowl is an example of ‘istoriato’, or narrative maiolica, in which a scene is painted over the entire surface, or the greater part of the surface of the piece. The subject depicted here, ‘The Kiss of Judas’, or ‘The Betrayal of Christ’, is from the biblical New Testament. A turning-point in the story of Christ’s Life and Passion, it is the moment when one of Christ’s twelve disciples, Judas, betrays him by kissing him in the Garden of Gethsemane in order to identify him to the Roman soldiers, and Christ is arrested. In response, one of Christ’s followers cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant. There are accounts of the events in the four Gospels: Matthew 26: 48¬-51; Mark 14: 44-47; Luke 22: 47-50; and John 18: 1-10, where Simon Peter (St Peter) is identified as the follower who cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant, there identified as Malchus.
A source for the composition of the scene has not been identified. The bowl could have formed part of a series depicting the life and Passion of Christ or other religious subjects, but it may also have been an individual commission.
The bowl originally had a foot, but this has been ground away, either because it was damaged or so that the bowl could be more easily accommodated in a frame, enabling it to be displayed like a painting. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it was not unusual for the foot of an ‘istoriato’ bowl or plate to be removed for this purpose. C59|1|1|This shallow bowl with a low foot was made in Faenza, a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy that formed part of the territory of the Papal States in the sixteenth century. Faenza is renowned for its maiolica production. Around the mid-sixteenth century potters there developed a new style of maiolica, ‘Faenza white’, for which they took advantage of the high quality of the local tin glazes to produce pieces with less labour-intensive decoration that met with great success.
This mould-formed circular bowl has a low central boss encircled by twelve flutes that radiate out to a twenty-four-lobed dark blue rim. The boss is painted on a yellow ground with Venus, who is shown from the thighs up, naked but for a scarf flowing over her left shoulder. In her left hand she holds what is probably a flaming heart, but which could, alternatively, be intended for a golden apple. In her right hand she holds an arrow. The boss is separated from the border of the bowl by an encircling rope pattern detailed in dark blue. The fluted compartments of the border are alternatively orange and green. The outer ends of the flutes are separated from the main parts by a narrow encircling yellow band. The outer ends of the green sections have a strip of orange and the outer ends of the orange sections a strip of green. The green portions are painted with yellow scrolls and the orange portions with blue and white scrolls, sometimes terminating in dolphins.The underside is moulded in relief like a flower with two rows of overlapping petals and an acanthus-like calyx. It has an off-white glaze and is painted with a blue rim and with rays alternately yellow with orange centres, and blue.
There are many moulded bowls in this or similar form, with border sections painted predominantly in dark blue, orange and yellow incorporating stylised foliage. The shape was probably achieved by pressing the clay over a convex mould. The bowls were produced in Faenza, as some examples with Faentine workshop marks testify. They were probably made by several workshops, from at least the 1530s into the 1570s, with a large number made around mid-century. They may also have been made by potters trained in Faenza who worked elsewhere and were made by potters working elsewhere who took inspiration from Faentine ceramics (see C61). The earliest known dated example was made in 1538, and the latest is dated 1575 (respectively Timothy Wilson and Elisa Paola Sani, ‘Le maioliche rinascimentali nelle collezioni della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia’, 2 vols, Perugia 2006–7, I, cat. no. 27 and Timothy Wilson, ‘Italian Maiolica of the Renaissance’, Milan 1996, cat. no. 74).
This type of compartmentalised border decoration was described as ‘Quartiere’ (‘Quarters’) by Cipriano Piccolpasso of Castel Durante in his manuscript treatise ‘Li tre libri dell’arte del vasaio’, or ‘The three books of the potter’s art’, written in about 1557. A bowl of this type is known in Italian as a ‘crespina’, from the Italian ‘crespa’, meaning pleat or wrinkle. They were made in imitation of gadrooned metal-work and they were most likely used at the table for fruit and sweets. Some contain ceramic fruit. For other examples of ‘Quartiere’ maiolica in the Wallace Collection see also C54, C56 and C61.
Venus, the goddess of love in Classical mythology, was a popular subject in Renaissance iconography. She might be depicted alone, with associated objects, as here; with her son Cupid, god of love (see Wallace Collection C70 and C126); or in depictions of the mythological stories in which she features. One of her attributes is a flaming heart, symbolising intense love, and that is probably intended as the object in her left hand on C59, particularly as in her right hand she holds an arrow. Cupid pierced his victims with an arrow to inflame them with love. However, there is also a possibility that the object in Venus’s left hand is a golden apple. In the myth of the Judgement of Paris, Venus was awarded a golden apple by Paris when he judged her more beautiful than her two competitors, Juno and Minera, for the accolade of being ‘the fairest’. For depictions of the ‘Judgement of Paris’ on maiolica in the Wallace Collection see C72, C102, C120 and C153. C61|1|1|This low-footed bowl was made in Montelupo, a major Tuscan centre of maiolica production situated on the River Arno between Florence and Pisa. Maiolica production in Montelupo was already well established by 1400 and in the sixteenth century maiolica made in the village was widely exported in Europe and the Mediterranean.
This mould-formed bowl has a low central boss encircled by twelve shallow flutes that radiate out to a twenty-four-lobed blue rim. The boss is painted on a yellow ground with an ribbed urn-shaped vase containing fruit-like flowers and foliage and set on a grassy mound. Alternate fluted compartments of the border are dark blue with yellow foliage. These alternate with an orange and a green flute, the former painted with blue and white foliage terminating in a dolphin, the latter with white and orange foliage. Each flute is flanked by borders, those either side of the orange flutes being green and yellow, those framing the green flutes being orange and yellow. Some details are painted in brown. The underside is glazed white and painted with broad concentric circles of dark and light blue and narrower, adjacent single bands of yellow and orange.
Compartmentalised border decoration of this type was described as ‘Quartiere’ (‘Quarters’) by Cipriano Piccolpasso of Castel Durante in his manuscript treatise ‘Li tre libri dell’arte del vasaio’, or ‘The three books of the potter’s art’, written in about 1557. Bowls of this form are known in Italian as ‘crespine’, from the Italian ‘crespa’, meaning pleat or wrinkle. They were made in imitation of gadrooned metalwork and they were most likely used at the table for fruit and sweets. Some contain ceramic fruit. For other examples of ‘Quartiere’ maiolica in the Wallace Collection see also C54, C56 and C59.
There are many moulded bowls in this or similar form, with border sections painted predominantly in dark blue, orange and yellow and incorporating stylised foliage. The shape was probably achieved by pressing the clay over a convex mould. Faenza was a major production centre for this kind of ware from at least the 1530s into the 1570s, with a large number made around mid-century (see Wallace Collection C54, C56 and C59). They may also have been made by potters trained in Faenza who worked elsewhere. Faentine production presumably inspired potters in Montelupo, where closely comparable examples were made from around 1550 to around 1620. The attribution of C61 to Montelupo takes into account the sketchy style of the painting on the boss, which is characteristic of later sixteenth-century Montelupo examples, and the simple manner of depicting the foliage in the border flutes. C66|1|1|This exquisite monumental dish is an outstanding example of the virtuosity achieved by Maestro Giorgio Andreoli’s acclaimed maiolica workshop in Gubbio. The inscription in lustre on the back, dated 6 April 1525, proudly proclaims that it was made in this workshop, which was celebrated for the beauty of its lustre, especially the distinctive ruby red. Gold and ruby red lustre shine from the surface of this beautiful dish. The bathing women are taken from three Italian prints depicting mythological subjects. The contemporary fascination for Classical Antiquity is reflected by the pool in which the young ladies bathe, with its marble front inspired by Roman precedents, and the flamboyant rim, extravagantly decorated with grotesques. C79|1|1|This unusual wall plaque is surprisingly archaic for 1521, the date inscribed to the side of the Virgin’s head. The depiction of the Virgin nursing the infant Christ is taken from an anonymous fifteenth-century German woodcut. The maiolica painter has embellished the figures and added a taut scroll inscribed in Gothic script with a phrase that was used in the Middle Ages to protect against fire and lightning. Mother and child are posed reflectively within the scroll, arranged to represent a window. The Virgin leans forward out of the frame, suggesting, perhaps, engagement with the wider world even during this moment of intimacy. C80|1|1|This drug jars show the early influence of Spanish tin-glazed and painted ceramics on potters in the small Umbrian town of Deruta, before the influence of classical antiquity came to dominate the decoration of Italian maiolica, the tin-glazed and painted earthenware associated most closely with late fifteenth and sixteenth-century Italy. The Spanish influence is evident in the vessel form itself, and in the bold white, cobalt blue and manganese palette, the simple, compartmentalised patterns, the armorial shield and the flat, cusped handles with their incised decoration. Non-porous and relatively inexpensive, maiolica albarelli were used in pharmacies to store dry or semi-solid ingredients, covered with a piece of paper or parchment secured below the rim. C81|1|1|This drug jars show the early influence of Spanish tin-glazed and painted ceramics on potters in the small Umbrian town of Deruta, before the influence of classical antiquity came to dominate the decoration of Italian maiolica, the tin-glazed and painted earthenware associated most closely with late fifteenth and sixteenth-century Italy. The Spanish influence is evident in the vessel form itself, and in the bold white, cobalt blue and manganese palette, the simple, compartmentalised patterns, the armorial shield and the flat, cusped handles with their incised decoration. Non-porous and relatively inexpensive, maiolica albarelli were used in pharmacies to store dry or semi-solid ingredients, covered with a piece of paper or parchment secured below the rim. C85|1|1|The love story of Cupid and Psyche, as recounted by the Roman writer Lucius Apuleius in The Golden Ass, was popular during the Renaissance. This episode takes place shortly before the couple’s wedding feast brings the story to a happy conclusion. Cupid, the winged god of Love, introduces Psyche to the gods assembled on Mount Olympus. Diminutive Cupid speaks to Jupiter, the ruler of the gods. Psyche stands behind Cupid. Other gods can be identified by their attributes (personal emblems). They include Juno with her peacock, Hercules with his club and Mercury with his caduceus. The composition is after a print by Jacopo Caraglio or Agostino Veneziano. C89|1|1|Two Venetian families, Michiel and Gritti, are represented by the coat of arms on this spectacular dish, probably made for Giacomo Michiel and his wife, Laura Gritti, the Doge’s niece. It was painted by Xanto, who signed and inscribed more works than any other maiolica painter. The inscription on the back includes the verse ‘Neptune triumphs here in the salt waves on which rejoices the amorous naked Star between her sons, and fair and lovely comes crowned with flowers and leaves’. The complex allegory probably celebrates Venice as a victorious maritime power. As was his usual practice, Xanto extracted figures from various print sources and incorporated them into his composition. C166|1|1|This baluster-shaped candlestick is one of a pair with C167. It is elaborately decorated with pierced work incorporating stylised flowers on the lower section and oval cartouches containing identical heads on the shaft. The rich blue, ochre, maroon, white and green palette recalls that of the innovative later sixteenth-century French potter Bernard Palissy. For this reason the candlesticks, like many other late sixteenth-early seventeenth century French ceramics and those by his nineteenth-century imitators, have traditionally been attributed to Palissy. In recent years study of material excavated from Palissy’s workshop in Paris has provided more specific information about his oeuvre, while further research and scientific analysis have shown that few works by Palissy survive. Archaeological and archival research has revealed that many ceramics attributed to Palissy’s workshop were in fact made in other workshops in France in the late sixteenth to early seventeenth centuries and later. There were important production centres at Fontainebleau and at Manerbe and Pré d’Auge in Normandy. It is also possible that the candlesticks were made in the mid- to late nineteenth century as part of the Palissy revival in France, by which time the potter had become an iconic figure and his ceramics were much sought after by collectors. The candlesticks were in the celebrated Fountaine Collection at Narford Hall in Norfolk and were sold at the Fountaine sale at Christie’s in June 1884. Sir Richard Wallace acquired them shortly afterwards. C167|1|1|This baluster-shaped candlestick is one of a pair with C166. It is elaborately decorated with pierced work incorporating stylised flowers on the lower section and oval cartouches containing identical heads on the shaft. The rich blue, ochre, maroon, white and green palette recalls that of the innovative later sixteenth-century French potter Bernard Palissy. For this reason the candlesticks, like many other late sixteenth-early seventeenth century French ceramics and those by his nineteenth-century imitators have traditionally been attributed to Palissy. In recent years study of material excavated from Palissy’s workshop in Paris has provided more specific information about his oeuvre, while further research and scientific analysis have shown that few works by Palissy survive. Archaeological and archival research has revealed that many ceramics attributed to Palissy’s workshop were in fact made in other workshops in France in the late sixteenth to early seventeenth centuries and later. There were important production centres at Fontainebleau and at Manerbe and Pré d’Auge in Normandy. It is also possible that the candlesticks were made in the mid- to late nineteenth century as part of the Palissy revival in France, by which time the potter had become an iconic figure and his ceramics were much sought after by collectors. The candlesticks were in the celebrated Fountaine Collection at Narford Hall in Norfolk and were sold at the Fountaine sale at Christie’s in June 1884. Sir Richard Wallace acquired them shortly afterwards. C173|1|1|Bernard Palissy, a highly innovative self-taught potter, pioneered the production of lead-glazed earthenware incorporating life-cast reptiles, water creatures and plants. Palissy described his works in this style as rustiques figulines, or naturalistic pottery. He sold his first rustic basin to Henri II in 1556. His interest in the imitation of nature through art was shared by many artists of the period. Only a very small number of pieces are currently attributed to Palissy. This basin is by one of Palissy's followers. It has been transformed into a muddy stream, the water appearing to flow into the basin through an opening in the border, which represents the stream's bank. The stream supports an abundance of animal and plant life, including a snake and two lizards. Perhaps the basin accompanied a ewer for hand washing during meals or simply served as a table ornament. C174|1|1|Bernard Palissy, a highly innovative self-taught potter, pioneered the production of lead-glazed earthenware incorporating life-cast reptiles, water creatures and plants. Palissy described his works in this style as rustique figulines, or naturalistic pottery. He sold his first rustic basin to Henri II in 1556. His interest in the imitation of nature through art was shared by many artists of the period. Only a very small number of pieces are currently attributed to Palissy. This basin is an excellent example of the work of one of his followers. It has been transformed into a pond or stream supporting an abundance of animal and plant life, including a snake, fish, crayfish, a lizard and a frog. Perhaps the basin accompanied a ewer for hand washing during meals or simply served as a table ornament. C199|1|1|This beautiful dish is wonderfully evocative of the sixteenth-century Ottoman court culture in which Iznik ceramics flourished. At its centre, the glorious turquoise background, suggesting perhaps a brilliant summer sky, is a perfect foil for the fantastical stylised peacock amidst flowers and foliage. The delightful decoration in the border, comprising split palmettes interwoven with flowers and leaves, both frames and extends the peacock’s flower-bedecked domain. The distinctive red, standing out in relief, was a recent addition to the Iznik palette, which became more vivid from around mid-century. A key element in the popularity of Iznik ceramics was the strong, clean white ground. The inclusion of a bird at the centre of an Iznik dish is very unusual at this early date. C204|1|1|The cuvette-type vases may have been used to display natural cut flowers, or deceivingly naturalistic porcelain flowers which were also produced at the Vincennes/Sèvres manufactory.
This popular model 'à tombeau' was probably introduced around 1753 and remained in production until the 1780s.
Decorated with a rose ground colour the Boucher-inspired cherubs on clouds are painted by Jean-Louis Morin (op. 1754-1787). They were a highly popular motif at Sèvres in the 1750s. The trophies on the other sides evoke the sphere of theatre: The one on the back features a book inscribed 'TARTUFE acte I', referencing Molières famous play from 1664, and one on the side shows a page inscribed 'ACREO', in allusion to Jean-Philippe Rameau’s 'Anacreon'. The opera had first been performed on 23 October 1754 to celebrate the birth of the duc de Berri, who would later become king Louis XVI. C208|1|1|This pair of vases would have been filled with either natural cut flowers or lavish porcelain flowers which were also made at the Sèvres manufactory. The model is named after the marquis de Courteille, the King’s representative in charge of the Vincennes/Sèvres manufactory, to whom the first example of this model was presented in December 1753.
The vases are decorated with a green ground, and painted on the back and sides with flowers and fruit, while the front reserves feature figural scenes painted by Antoine Caton (op. 1749-1798). The motifs are taken from the engraving 'La quatrième fête flamande' by Jacques-Philippe Le Bas, produced after a work of David Teniers the Younger.
Such cheerful peasant scenes, often after or in the style of Teniers, were introduced around 1758 and remained highly popular until the mid-1760s. C210|1|1|The 'cuvette'-type vases were often produced in pairs and would have been filled with fresh natural flowers or lavish naturalistic porcelain flowers which were also produced at the Sèvres manufactory. This particular model is named after the marquis de Courteille, the King’s representative in charge of the Vincennes/Sèvres manufactory, to whom the first example was also presented in December 1753.
The vases are decorated with a intricate gilded diaper pattern framing stylized flowers on the sides, while the rest of the body is covered with a bright blue 'bleu Fallot' ground. Invented in 1764 by Jean Armand Fallot, this colour was mostly combined with a so-called 'incrusté' flower decoration (here in the centre on both sides), which is painted directly onto areas where the ground colour has been scraped away, thus creating an inlaid effect. C212|1|1|The 'cuvette'-type vases were often produced in pairs and would have been filled with either natural flowers or lavish porcelain flowers which were also made at the Sèvres manufactory. This particular model is named after the marquis de Courteille, the King’s representative in charge of the Vincennes/Sèvres manufactory, to whom the first example of this model was presented in December 1753.
The vases are decorated with a rich 'beau bleu' overglaze ground colour, which was introduced in1763 (then still called 'bleu nouveau') to replace the previous underglaze blue that was less stable in the kiln. The front reserves show atmospheric harbour scenes by Jean-Louis Morin (op. 1754-1787), one of Sèvres' most skilled figure painters who specialised in this subject. The backs of the vases feature sprays of flowers, which, unusually, were not painted in enamel colours but gilding.
The pair was possibly bought by Louis XV in 1772. C214|1|1|The cuvette-type vases would have been used to display either natural cut flowers, or lavish porcelain flowers which were also made at Sèvres. This particular model was previously known as a 'cuvette Verdun', but has been identified in 2014 as the previously unknown 'cuvette Roussel'.
The oval-shaped vase with acanthus-scroll handles is decorated with a turquoise-blue 'bleu céleste' ground, which was introduced in 1753 for Louis XV’s first major dinner service from the manufactory and was also the most costly colour to be produced in the eighteenth century.
The painted decoration includes flowers and fruit on the back, sprays of flowers on the handles, and a pair of cherubs on clouds on the front. One cherub is depicted holding a pen before an open manuscript, a lyre and a dagger lying next to him, while his companion offers the poet a laurel crown. The scene is derived from François Boucher’s painting 'La Poésie'. Drawings by of engravings after Boucher were important references for Sèvres painters. C215|1|1|Although wonderfully extravagant and artful, the construction of these vases also makes them highly functional. Plants were grown in the upper section, whose openings at the bottom would allow water to permeate, while the lower section served as a reservoir, from which water could be poured through the trellis-work piercings.
The vases are decorated with a turquoise-blue 'bleu céleste' ground colour, which was introduced in 1753 for Louis XV’s first major dinner service from the manufactory and was also the most costly colour to be produced in the eighteenth century. The birds in landscapes were painted by Louis-Denis Armand L’Aîné (op. 1745-1788).
The most striking part of the decoration, however, are probably the two elaborately sculpted and gilded dolphins on the sides. Dolphins were popular rococo motifs in general, but since medieval times they were also associated with the heir to the throne of France ('dauphin' means dolphin in French). The vase model was introduced in 1754, and might thus commemorate the birth of the dauphin’s second son (the future Louis XVI) in August of the same year.
These two examples were probably part of a set with two matching 'vases à oreilles' and one 'cuvette à masques', which was assembled by the famour dealer Lazare Duvaux in order to be given by Louis XV to Count Moltke of Copenhagen as part of a costly gift of Sèvres pieces in 1757. As Moltke was a close friend of Fredrick V of Denmark, the gift may have been a bid to persuade Denmark to remain neutral rather than join Russia in the Seven Years' War. It wouldn't have been the only time that Louis XV used precious Sèvres porcelain gifts to bolster his diplomatic strategy. C217|1|1|A means of bringing the garden indoors, this model would hold flowers in earth in the upper section, ehich also had holes at the bottom in order to allow water to permeate. The lower part served as a reservoir, from which water could be poured through the openings (the Sèvres manufactory also produced watering cans for that purpose). Dutch tin-glazed earthenware flowerpots were used in a smiliar manner, hence perhaps the term 'vase hollandois’. The popular model was introduced in 1754 and remained in production until the 1790s.
This vase is decorated with a rose ground and white trellis-work, while the painted decoration features children in a landscape. The scene, probably inspired by Boucher, may have been painted by André-Vincent Vieillard (op. 1752-1790). The vase left the factory as the largest in a set of three, but was immediately separated by the dealer Madame Duvaux and sold to Louise-Jeanne de Durfort, duchesse de Mazarin. The other two vases are now at Harewood House in Yorkshire. C218|1|1|A means of bringing the garden indoors, this model was intended to grow plants.
While the upper section would hold the flowers and had holes at the bottom which allowed water to permeate, the lower served as a reservoir, from which water could be poured through the openings at the sides (the Sèvres manufactory also produced watering cans for that purpose). Dutch tin-glazed earthenware flowerpots were used in a similar manner, hence perhaps the term vase hollandois. The popular model was introduced in 1754 and remained in production until the 1790s.
This pair is decorated with a bleu lapis ground, overlaid on the sides with an elaborate gilded trellis-work pattern. The reserves show birds in landscapes and were painted by Louis-Denis Armand L’Aîné (op. 1745-1788), who specialized in this subject-matter and can be identified by his characteristic crescent mark. C220|1|1|This garniture was intended to grow plants indoors. The upper section would hold flowers in earth and had holes at the bottom which allowed water to permeate, and the lower part served as a reservoir, from which the water could be poured through openings at the sides (the Sèvres manufactory also produced watering cans for that purpose). Dutch tin-glazed earthenware flowerpots were used in a similar way, hence perhaps the term 'vase hollandois’. The popular model was introduced in 1754 and remained in production until the 1790s.
The garniture is decorated with a green ground, while the painted decoration shows pastoral scenes derived from different engravings after François Boucher, which survive in the Sèvres archives to this day. Boucher's compositions were a popular reference for the Sèvres painters and can be found on a great number of objects. C223|1|1|The Vincennes/Sèvres manufactory was remarkable not only for the elaborate design of its vases, but also for their functionality. A means of bringing the garden indoors, these vases were intended to grow plants. While the upper section would hold the flowers in earth and had holes at the bottom which allowed water to permeate, the lower served as a reservoir, from which the water could be poured through the openings at the sides (the Sèvres manufactory also produced watering cans for that purpose). Dutch tin-glazed earthenware flowerpots were used in a similar manner, hence perhaps the term vase hollandois. The popular model was introduced in 1754 and remained in production until the 1790s.
Both vases are decorated with a dark blue 'bleu lapis' ground colour and overlaid with worm tunnel-like vermiculé gilding which was often used to conceal cloudiness occurring on the blue ground. The front reserves each show harbour scenes and were probably painted by Jean-Louis Morin (op. 1754-1787), one of Sèvres most skilled figure painters. The painting on the sides takes up the naval theme, featuring marine trophies.
Originally these vases formed a garniture with a larger central vase now at Waddesdon Manor. C225|1|1|This lavish vase is the first of three ship-shaped models chief designer Jean-Claude Duplessis (op. 1748-1774) created for the Sèvres manufactory in the 1750s (see C248 and C256 for the other models). The naval theme is playfully echoed in a wave-like neck and stand, and in the elaborately sculpted masks which gave this model its name. Recalling the fanciful design of figureheads, the marine monsters have long moustaches and reeds woven through their hair.
Despite their visual appeal, only comparatively few 'cuvettes à masques' were made and the example in the Wallace Collection is particularly unusual with its two interlaced L’s - the cypher of the French kings - painted on the front. Rarely found on porcelain, they suggest a royal patron and recall the decoration on a gold jewelled 'nef' (a ship-shaped table ornament), once owned by Louis XIV. The vase may originally have formed a garniture with two similarly decorated vases 'urne antique', now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. C226|1|1|Previously thought to be a 'vase à compartiments' or 'Choisy', this oval-shaped vase with its characteristic fixed partitions has been identified as a 'cuvette Verdun' in 2014, a title formerly attributed to a different model (see C214).
It is named after Jean-François Verdun de Monchiroux, one of the first major shareholders in the Vincennes manufactory.
Decorated with pink and green ground golours, the front features a peasant scene outside an inn, which was painted by Charles-Nicolas Dodin (op. 1754-1802/3) – one of the factory’s most skilled and versatile painters. Such cheerful scenes of peasant life – often after or in the style of David Teniers the Younger – were introduced at the factory around 1758. A marked contrast to the elaborate luxury of the Sèvres pieces and the noble society for whom they were produced, the mundane subjects were highly popular until the mid-1760s.
The vase was possibly bought by Louis XV in 1760, together with several other pieces decorated with Teniers scenes. C227|1|1|This garniture consists of three vases, a cuvette Roussel (previously known as cuvette Verdun, re-identified in 2014) and two 'cuvettes Verdun' (previously 'vase à compartiments' or 'Choisy').
The dark-blue bleu lapis ground is overlaid with elaborate gilding to disguise the cloudiness often occurring with this ground colour. The cheerful peasant scenes, painted by André-Vincent Vieilliard (op. 1752-1790), are based on engravings after David Teniers the Younger. A marked contrast to the elaborate luxury of the Sèvres pieces and the noble society for whom they were made, such mundane scenes of peasant life were introduced in 1758 and remained highly popular until the mid-1760s.
The garniture was probably sold by the dealer Simon-Philippe Poirier to Louis XV's mistress, Madame du Barry, on 12 July 1769 and was subsequently displayed in her bedroom at Louveciennes. C230|1|1|The Vincennes/Sèvres manufactory was remarkable not only for the design of its vases, but also for their functionality. This set of vases would have been used to grow bulb plants indoors. The main section holds a smaller container inserted through an opening at the top, whose longish, narrow shape would provide ideal stability to grow larger flowers such as hyacinths in water.
When bulbs were out of season, the vases could be used to display either cut flowers or porcelain flowers. Bulb pots, flower vases and flower pots were all ways of bringing the garden indoors and were at their most popular at Sèvres in the 1750s.
The 'piédestaux à oignon' were mostly sold in sets of two. Decorated with green-ground scrolls forming a trellis pattern and painted with delicate flower garlands, the foot shows a simplified Greek-key pattern, which makes it one of the earliest neo-classical motifs to appear on Sèvres pieces. C234|1|1|This garniture consists of five pieces, and although all of them were used to display flowers, the two pedestals may not have been intended for that purpose. The model, now with inserted bulb holders, was originally designed to hold small biscuit busts of Maria Leszczyńska and Louis XV (see a pair in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) and was introduced in 1759, the year the King became sole proprietor of the Sèvres manufactory.
All pieces are decorated with rose and green ground colours, the latter forming cartouches of scrolls and branches. The reserves inside the cartouches are painted with flowers and fruit by Pierre-Joseph Rosset (op. 1753-1799). Again, the pedestals are unusual: several details in painting and gilding of both pieces differ from one another, and it is very probable that they have been wrongly matched in the Sèvres manufactory with a pair of 'piédestaux en gaine' now in the Kress Collection.
It seems that only C234-6 were originally designed as a garniture, and that the pedestals were later added in 1768. C243|1|1|This popular model by Chief-designer Jean-Claude Duplessis was introduced in 1754 and remained in production until the 1790s. The design was probably inspired by Chinese vases in the stock of the dealer Lazare Duvaux, which were listed as 'à oreilles' ('oreille' means 'ear' in French).
The vase is decorated with a turquoise blue 'bleu céleste' ground and painted in with fable-like scenes: on one side a fox is alarming two birds in a tree, while on the other the fox is being caught in a trap. The reserves are edged with exquisitely gilded cartouches of richly varied flowers, garlands and trellis-work. Since both sides of the vase are of equal importance, it was apparently intended to be seen in the round and might thus have been displayed in the middle of a room, against a mirror, or it might have been turned around according to which motive you wished to see.
Despite the technical improvements at Sèvres during the 1750s, not every object would come out in a perfect state: the vase has sagged to one side, but was nevertheless considered valuable enough to go on sale. C244|1|1|First introduced in 1755, when criticism against the 'rocaille' style was growing, this bottle-shaped vase has a classical reference, without however losig it rococo flourishes. Chief designer Jean-Claude Duplessis may have known the 'plusieurs Traits de vases antiques' (several traits of antique vases), probably supplied to the manufactory by the painter and architect Jean-Louis Le Lorrain (1715-1758) in 1754. However, the vase's scalloped and pierced handles and scroll-footed base soften any resemblance to an ancient urn.
The model usually came with a shallow cover, which is missing on both pieces and the gilding inside the necks may indicate that they were never intended. Front and back reserves are painted with birds in landscapes, and since both sides of the vases are of equal importance, they were apparently intended to be seen in the round and might have been displayed in the middle of a room, against a mirror, or they might have been turned around, according to which motive you wished to see. C248|1|1|This exquisite garniture consists of two elaborate vases with elephants’ heads supporting candleholders (for a detailed discussion of the model see C246-7) and a boat-shaped pot-pourri vase. It is the second of three ship-shaped models chief-designer Jean-Claude Duplessis père (op. 1745/1748-1774), created during the 1750s (see C225 and C256 for the other models).
The piercings on the neck were required for the perfume to permeate and are a complex decorative pattern of entwining scrolls, while the cover is decorated with naturalistically sculpted and painted flowers, crowned by a small bouquet forming the knop. Decorated with a green ground, the pairs of cherubs on both sides, were possibly executed by Charles-Nicolas Dodin (op. 1754-1802/3 and inspired by works of Boucher).
The inventories of Madame de Pompadour’s apartments at Versailles and the Hôtel de Pompadour list three vases whose description closely matches the garniture in the Wallace Collection. Louis XV’s mistress might have bought this set in 1759 and then displayed the vases in different houses. C251|1|1|This three-piece garniture consists of two pear-shaped vases à oreilles (for a detailed description of this model, see C241-242 and C243) and a vase Boileau. The chalice-shaped model was first introduced in 1758 and is named after Jacques-René Boileau de Picardie, director of Vincennes/Sèvres from 1751.
All pieces are decorated with 'saffre et verd' ground, a combination of blue and green ground colours, which was highly difficult to produce as each colour had to be fired separately. The reserves on the backs are painted with flowers, while the fronts feature figural scenes of military encampments, possibly by Jean-Louis Morin (op. 1754-1787). At that time, France was fighting in the Seven Years' War (1756-63), so as often with Sèvres decoration, these were probably inspired by current political events.
The lavish garniture was possibly bought by Louis XV in 1759 during the big annual sale held at Court in late December. C254|1|1|This pear-shaped vase model was named either after the dealer Thomas-Joachim Hébert or one of the king's officers of the same name who was involved in the factory's financial affairs. The vase was intended for pot-pourri, a mixture of dried flowers, herbs and spices which would have perfumes the appartments of its noble owner. The domed cover features decorative piercings which would have allowed the perfume to permeate.
Decorated with a green ground, the reserves show the popular motif of birds in landscapes, while the rich gilding includes sprays of foliage, peacock feathers and wheat ears. C255|1|1|This pear-shaped vase model was named either after the dealer Thomas-Joachim Hébert or one of the king's officers of the same name who was involved in the manufactory's financial affairs. The vase was intended for pot-pourri, a mixture of dried flowers, herbs and spices which would have scented the rooms of its noble owner. The cover thus has decorative piercings that allowed the perfume to permeate.
Decorated with rose and green ground colours, the vase is painted with flowers by Pierre-Joseph Rosset (op. 1753-99), while the front features a military encampment attributed to Jean-Louis Morin (op. 1754-1787), which may have neen inspired by the battles of the Seven Years' war France was involved in at the time. Together with a similarly decorated 'vase à tête d’éléphant' (now at Waddesdon Manor), the vase was originally probably part of a set of five which Louis XV bought in December 1760. C257|1|1|Pot-pourri vases were usually filled with mixtures of dried flowers, herbs and spices, sprinkled with perfumed water to mask unpleasant odours and scent the rooms. This wonderfully sumptuous model derives its name from the sculptural myrtle branches twining upwards from its stem and painted on the foot. The myrtle theme probably refers to specific pot-pourri mixtures which included the dried leaves.
The pear-shaped vases have large entwined scrolls forming handles and continuing in a serpentine line over the neck. Openings at the neck and cover would have allowed the scent to permeate.
Decorated with a green ground, both vases are painted with pairs of birds in landscapes, similar to those on another vase in the collection, C254. Created by Sèvres chief designer Jean-Claude Duplessis père (op. 1745/8-1774), the source for this extravagant model may have been the design for an ecclesiastical hanging lamp by Pierre Germain II, published in 1748. Prior to his activity at the Sèvres manufactory, Duplessis had worked with metal and was therefore certainly familiar with the work of the silversmith Germain.
Although its undulating forms clearly make it a rococo model, the painted Greek-key pattern on its foot marks the beginning fashion for neo-classical elements in Sèvres designs. C260|1|1|A classical-inspired model, this vase urn-shaped may have been known as a 'vase grec à festons' or a 'vase grec et à guirlandes' in the eighteenth century - both names are listed in Sèvres' records from 1763.
This example is decorated with an overglaze blue 'bleu nouveau' ground (introduced in 1763 to replace the underglaze blue) and generous gilding, including a 'vermiculé' ('worm-tunnel') pattern on the cover and 'sablé' (sand) pattern on the flutes.
The knop on the cover is a later replacement. C261|1|1|The name of this vase model refers to the complex arrangement of sculpted ropes, clamps, rings and nails, which seemingly suspend four large panels around the vase. The model was introduced by Sèvres in 1763 and was still in production in the early 1780s.
Decorated with a 'bleu nouveau' ground (introduced in 1763 to replace the former underglaze blue) and painted on the fronts with scenes of military encampents by Jean-Louis Morin (op.1754-87), the decoration of these vases depicts an idyllic view of military life; actual battle scenes were rare at Sèvres. The flower wreaths on the other panels are possibly by another artist.
The vases may have been delivered to Versailles in 1767, costing 480 livres each. Later in the century, they possibly found their way into the collection of the duc de Liancourt, from which they were confiscated following the Revolution in 1793.
The gilt-bronze stands are later additions from the nineteenth century, probably French. C263|1|1|This model is one of the earliest neo-classical shapes at Sèvres. It may have been one of the designs by Etienne-Maurice Falconet shown to Louis XV in December 1762.
The naval flavour of ropes and rings is also reflected in the painted decoration on the front panel, which features a harbour scene by Jean-Louis Morin (op. 1754-87), one of Sèvres most skilled figure painters. The fruit and flower arrangements on the other sides were executed by another artist.
The lavish vase was possibly delivered to Versailles in 1769/70. C267|1|1|The sleek shape of this ornamental vase is inspired by classical models. It is decorated with an overglaze ‘bleu nouveau’ ground (introduced in 1763 to the replace the earlier underglaze blue) and a peasant scene, possibly painted by Antoine Caton (op. 1749-98) on the front. The motif derives from the title page of the ‘Diversa Animalia Quadrupedia’, a set of four engravings after Dutch painter Nicholas Berchem, which was published in 1741 by Johannes Visscher. A similarly decorated piece of the same model was formerly in the Alphonse de Rothschild Collection and may have been its pair.
The vase was possibly owned by Prince Alexander Andreevich Bezborodko (1742-99), an important Russian statesman and collector, and remained with the Koucheleff-Bezborodko family until 1860. C269|1|1|With the neo-classical fashion, mythological subjects became increasingly popular on Sèvres porcelain. Here, the erotic scene painted on the front is derived from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It shows Jupiter seducing the nymph Callisto by approaching her under the guise of her patroness Diana.
The depiction is based on a 1735 engraving by Étienne Fessard after Jean-François de Troy which is still preserved at Sèvres today.
The vase is decorated with a 'beau bleu' ground and has flowers painted on the back. C270|1|1|Introduced in 1763, this classically-inspired model features elements from ancient architecture: flutes and triglyphs on stem and shoulder and a meander-like decoration on the lower part. It was probably designed by the sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet (op. 1757-66), who besides vase designs mainly supplied models for biscuit figures to the manufactory (see C492 and C493-4)
Decorated with an overglaze ‘bleu nouveau’ ground colour (introduced in 1763 to replace the former underglaze blue), the front reserve shows three children watching a peepshow, a Savoyard scene possibly painted by Charles-Eloi Asselin (op. 1765-98, 1800-04). Peasants from the Savoy Alps frequently visited French fairs with their simple entertainments at the time and were popular motifs in eighteenth-century art. This scene is based on Falconet’s biscuit group ‘The magic Lantern’, which had been introduced in 1757 after designs of François Boucher.
The trophy on the back, probably painted by Louis-Gabriel Chulot (op. 1755-1800), takes up the Savoyard theme with various musical instruments and toys, a magic lantern, and a dancing marmot in a box.
The inscription inside the vase’s cover may refer to the important Parisian dealer Philippe Poirier, who possibly bought it with Dominique Daguerre in 1776. C276|1|1|These vases illustrate the neoclassical influence that became fashionable in the 1760s. The model’s bulbous shape and characteristic small handles were probably inspired by a design by sculptor Jacques-Francois Joseph Saly (1717-1776) who engraved several classically-inspired vases in 1746. A set of these prints was owned by Sèvres’ designer Jean-Claude Duplessis who probably designed this model.
Its name perhaps commemorates a visit to Paris of Joachim Godske, son of the highly influential Danish statesman and diplomat Adam Gottlob von Moltke, in 1764.
Matched by pastoral trophies on the backs, the bucolic scenes with children and animals in the front reserves were presumably painted by Charles-Nicolas Dodin, one of Sèvres' most skilled figure painters. They may have adapted several compositions by François Boucher, who frequently provided engravings or drawings to the manufactory. However, the scenes are unusual as they don’t appear on any other pieces. C278|1|1|A simplified version of the vase Danemark à cartouche de relief (see C276/277), this oval-shaped model illustrates the neoclassical taste that became increasingly fashionable in the 1760s. The pot-pourri vase would have been filled with perfumed mixtures of dried flowers, herbs and spices, and hence has piercings around the neck, which allowed the scent to permeate.
The overglaze bleu nouveau ground colour (introduced in 1763 to replace the earlier underglaze blue) is overlaid with a highly elaborate lace-pattern gilding.
Although no less luxurious than the earlier rococo models, the seemingly simplistic decoration reflects a new stylistic austerity. C279|1|1|Illustrating the new neoclassical forms that became fashionable in the 1760s, this vase has spiralling flutes on the neck and sashes draped below the shoulder. The design may have been inspired by two Chinese vases which were described in the inventory of the duc d’Aumont’s collections in a similar way, bottle-shaped with fluted neck and sash decoration.
Instead of featuring painted decoration, the juxtaposing of the dark blue bleu nouveau colour with the white ground and elaborate gilded pattern draws attention to the vase’s refined shape.
Although gilt-bronze elements were often added in the nineteenth century, several examples of this model are known with mounts in the eighteenth century. The collar, decorated with lions’ masks suspending chains, and the scroll-footed stand, are thus probably contemporary to the porcelain. C280|1|1|Illustrating the new neoclassical forms that became fashionable in the 1760s, these vases have spiralling flutes on the neck and sashes draped below the shoulder. Their design may have been inspired by two Chinese vases which were mentioned in the inventory of the duc d’Aumont’s collections, and also described as bottle-shaped, with fluted neck and sash decoration.
The limited colour palette of the dark ‘bleu nouveau’ blue and white, overlaid with elaborated gilded decoration, draws attention to the model’s refined shape.
Although gilt-bronze elements were often added in the nineteenth century, several examples of this model are known to have been sold with mounts in the eighteenth century. The collars, decorated with lions’ masks suspending chains, and the lion’s-paw footed stands, are thus probably contemporary to the porcelain.
The cover on C281 is a later replacement. C282|1|1|Illustrating the new neoclassical forms which became fashionable in the 1760s, the model combines a simple urn-shape with typical motifs: a fluted body, lions’ masks, laurel garlands, and acanthus tips.
Prints were an important source of inspiration for these new designs and may also have provided a reference for the lion’s-head decoration on the sides. A gilt-bronze clock with lion’s heads and pelts was engraved by the architect Jean-Louis Le Lorrain (1715-1758) around 1756/7 and an illustration from the ‘2e suite d’Habillement à la Grécque’ (c. 1763), also features lion’s paw pelts.
The design of the vase’s cover is identical to one made in gilt bronze for a sixteenth-century Urbino maiolica vase. Sèvres’ chief-designer Jean-Claude Duplessis also worked as a gilt-bronze founder throughout his career, and thus might have designed both, the cover of the maiolica vase and the porcelain model.
Decorated with an underglaze ‘bleu nouveau’ ground (introduced in 1763 to replace the previous underglaze blue), the gilded decoration is of the highest quality and includes finely tooled trophies of roman arms and armour as well as naturalistic details on the lions’ faces and paws. C284|1|1|Taking its title from the fountain-inspired shape and decoration, this lavish model features elaborately sculpted and gilded dolphins on both sides – a motif that has been associated with the heir to the throne of France since medieval times ('dauphin' means dolphin in French). The model was introduced in 1765, the year the future Louis XVI became dauphin on the death of his father.
Combining a neoclassical shape with the ornate abundance of earlier designs, this may be one of the later creations by chief designer Jean-Claude Duplessis père, who had created some of the most exuberant rococo vases in the 1750s.
Decorated with an overglaze blue bleu nouveau ground (introduced in 1763 to replace the previous underglaze blue), gilding is applied generously on the water cascade, while the dolphins are worked up with naturalistic details.
Sèvres presented this pair to the marquis de Courteille, Louis XV’s minister in charge of the factory, in December 1766. C286|1|1|Although in the shape of a useful object, these ewers would have served purely decorative purposes. Their simple form is highlighted by a looped handle, terminating in a stylized fish tail. Decorated with an overglaze ‘bleu nouveau’ ground (introduced in 1763 to replace the previous underglaze blue), the undulating reserves show flower wreaths, formed by interweaved cornflower and rose garlands. They were probably painted by Jean-Baptiste Tandart (op. 1754-1800), who executed this unusual flower decoration on a similar pair in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The vases might have been owned by Louis XV, who bought a pair of vases ‘en burette’ in 1766 for 300 livres each. C288|1|1|Illustrating the new neoclassical forms which became fashionable in the 1760s, these vases feature typical decorative motifs from that period – pine knops, Vitruvian and acanthus scroll bands and scrolled acanthus leaves forming handles on the sides. The model was designed by Jean-Jacques Bachelier (op. 1748/51-93), who oversaw the painted decoration at Sèvres and occasionally supplied vase models from the mid-1760s.
Decorated with an overglaze ‘bleu nouveau’ ground (introduced in 1763 to replace the previous underglaze blue), the exquisite gilding includes elaborate bands of scrolled foliage. The gilding was applied by Etienne-Henry Le Guay (op. 1742-3, 1748-9, 1751-96), a long-serving worker and the factory’s finest gilder, despite having lost the use of his left hand during a sword fight.
Assembled as a garniture with three other vases now at the Wallace Collection (C333 and C321-2) the vases were presented by the comte d’Artois to François Charles de Velbrück, prince bishop of Liège in 1781. In the nineteenth century they found their way into the collection of Felix Montfort (also recorded as the Count of Schomburg) and Lord Wellesley (Brussels). C294|1|1|These slender vases, featuring a relief of sage leaves on the neck and entwined branches forming handles on the sides, were possibly designed by Jean-Jacques Bachelier (op. 1748/51-93), who had started working as an artistic director overseeing the painted decoration at the manufactory, and occasionally supplied vase models from the mid 1760’s.
The front reserves are painted with two erotic mythological scenes, ‘Jupiter and Antiope’ and ‘Venus in the Sea’. The former is derived from Étienne Fessard’s engraving after a composition by Carle van Loo, the latter from a print by Jean-Charles Levasseur after François Boucher.
The vases may have been bought by Lord Harcourt, British Ambassador to France, in 1770, together with two matching ‘vases à têtes de Boucs’. Alternatively they belonged to Mad-ame du Barry, who acquired a pair of similar description in 1773 together with a third vase, possibly the ‘vase à têtes de sphinx’ also in the Wallace Collection (see C327). This garniture may have been in the collection of the 2nd Marquess of Abercorn at Bentley Priory until the 1850s and the gilt-bronze stands, collars and covers were probably added during this time. C299|1|1|Illustrating the new neoclassical forms which became fashionable in the 1760s, this vase is decorated with typical elements derived from classical architecture: flutes, meander-like handles, laurel garlands, and the prominent pearl decoration to which this model owes its name.
Decorated with an overglaze blue ‘bleu nouveau’ ground (introduced in 1763 to replace the underglaze ‘bleu lapis’), the vase has flowers painted on the back and a harbour scene on the front. Although no marks were applied, the flowers can stylistically be attributed to Edme-Francois Bouilliat (op. 1758-1810) and the figural scene by Jean-Louis Morin (op. 1732-1787) or Jean-Baptiste Genest (op. 1752-1789).
The high quality of the detailed gilded decoration suggests that is was executed by Etienne-Henry Le Guay (op. 1742-3, 1748-9, 1751-96). A long-serving worker, he was the factory’s finest gilder, despite having lost the use of his left hand in a sword fight.
With a matching pair of ‘vases Bouc de Costes’, this piece was possibly sold to Louis XVI in 1775.
The gilt-bronze stand is a nineteenth-century addition and probably English. C303|1|1|llustrating the neoclassical influences that became fashionable in the 1760s, this model combines a squat, oval shape with laurel-swags, a pinecone knop and scrolled volute handles. Decorated with an overglaze ‘bleu nouveau’ ground (introduced in 1763 to replace the underglaze ‘bleu lapis’), it is painted with a playful pastoral scene after François Boucher, reproduced in a print by Gilles Demarteau which has survived at Sèvres to this day. The bucolic theme is taken up in the trophy on the back, featuring bagpipes, shepherds’ crooks and a hat, entwined with flower garlands. C305|1|1|This lavish vase derives its name from the large portrait medallion of King Louis XV, prominently placed in the centre and framed by a laurel wreath. Executed in biscuit (unglazed) porcelain, it shows the King as a young man - he was in his late 50’s when the vase was made - and follows a design by sculptor Edme Bouchardon which was first cast in bronze in 1738.
The model was introduced in 1767 and is probably the first to include such a portrait of the king who had become Sèvres sole owner in 1759. The cover, surmounted by the emblem of French royalty, fleur de lys, is in the form of a French royal crown and closely resembles the decoration on a Sèvres inkstand also in the Wallace Collection (see C488), designed by Jean-Claude Duplessis, who may also have been responsible for this model.
The clock dial on the back, although signed by 18th-century clockmaker Jean Lepautre, is presumably a later addition and might have replaced a second portrait medallion.
Only two other examples of this model are known, and while one in the Royal Collection may have belonged to the King’s mistress Madame du Barry, this vase is likely to have been presented (possibly with two green-ground vases now at the Walters Art Museum) to King Christian VII of Denmark by Louis XV himself in 1768. During his sojourn in France that year, Christian had visited the Sèvres manufactory and also received a dinner service. Porcelain objects were often given as diplomatic gifts, serving not only as a sign of special recognition, but also demonstrating the virtuosity of the King’s royal porcelain manufactory. C306|1|1|An example of the more advanced neo-classical models at Sèvres, this vase borrows its column-like neck, Vitruvian scroll and Greek-key pattern friezes, and the zig-zag handles from antique architecture. Despite its brilliant design, the model was only briefly in production, possibly because its classical forms were not fully understood in the late 1760s. The only other known example has a similar blue ground and gilded decoration.
The gilt-bronze stand was probably made in France in the nineteenth century. C308|1|1|The urn shape of this vase, and its decoration of pilasters, consoles and painted cameo-like medallions illustrate the growing antique influence at Sèvres from the mid-1760s. The spiral dynamic and decorative opulence, however, are still reminiscent of earlier rococo designs.
Only one other example of this model is known today and it features a similar blue-white and gilded decoration. C311|1|1|This garniture consists of two ‘vases à pied de globe’ or ‘chinois’ (for a detailed description of this model see C309) and a ‘vase console’, which derives its name from the scrolled consoles, linked by laurel swags, on the lower half.
All three pieces are decorated with a mid-blue ‘bleu Fallot’ ground, overlaid with a gilded pattern of circles and dots. This ground colour was probably named after its inventor, the Sèvres painter Jean-Armand Fallot (op. 1764-90) and is usually combined with ‘incrusté’ flower decoration, here in the form of garlands, which is directly painted into areas where the ground colour has been scraped away, creating an inlaid effect. The medallions were painted in grisaille by Jean-Baptiste Étienne Genest (op. 1752-89), head of the painters’ workshop, and feature figural scenes, cameo heads and trophies in the classical taste. The scene on C311 is from Antonio Tempesta’s engraving ‘Battle between the Greeks and the Amazons’ of 1600.
The vases were probably delivered to Versailles in December 1769, as part of a set of fifteen (the other vases are now at Waddesdon Manor, Luton Hoo and the Musée Condé). The set may have been dispersed at Louis XV’s annual New Year sale in 1770, where some of the vases were probably bought by the duc de Choiseuil.
The gilt-bronze stands and covers are later additions from the nineteenth century. C316|1|1|Named after its octagonal shape, this model has unusual folded handles which are seemingly pinned to the body by sculpted clamps. Only one other pair is known today.
These examples, both missing their covers, are decorated with a blue 'beau bleu' ground and painted with colourful flower arrangements suspended on ribbon bows.
The gilt-bronze stands are probably English and date to the nineteenth century. C318|1|1|This vase model features a complex arrangement of strap-like studded bands, rings, and laurel swags on the sides, which gave the model its name.

It is decorated with a ‘beau bleu’ ground and a pastoral scene, probably painted by Charles-Nicolas Dodin (op. 1754-1802) who was one of Sèvres’ most skilled figure painters. The gallant anglers are derived from Jacques-Firmin Beauvarlet’s engraving after Boucher’s ‘La pêche’, while the flower vase adorning the back may be based on an overdoor painting surviving in the Sèvres archives. The overdoor in turn seems to derive from Daniel Marot’s ‘Nouveaux Livre de Taleaux (sic) de portes et de chiminée utiles aux peintres en Floeurs (sic)’.
The rich gilding of foliage and leaf garlands was applied by Étienne-Henry Le Guay (op. 1742-3, 1748-9, 1751-96). He became one of Sèvres’ most skilled gilders despite having lost his left hand in a battle during his military career.
With a similarly decorated piece now in the Royal Collection, the vase was possibly delivered to the château of Versailles on 25 December 1776. C319|1|1|This fluted, melon-shaped vase is very rare and only one other example, now at Woburn Abbey, is known today. This one is decorated with a beau bleu ground and has gilded pendants of oak leaves. C321|1|1|The veiled heads on the sides of these vases possibly represent nuns and might reflect Madame Louise, Louis XV’s youngest daughter, who entered a Carmelite convent in 1770.
The medallions of hunting and pastoral trophies were probably painted by Claude-Gilles Buteux (op. 1778-90) and Etienne Henry Le Guay was responsible for the gilding. Unusually, Etienne-Henry Bono (op. 1754-81), the craftsman who modelled the shape, has also marked both pieces.
Assembled as a garniture with three other vases in the Wallace Collection (C228-9 and C333), which have a similar 'beau bleu' and gilded decoration, the pair was sent by the comte d’Artois to the Prince de Velbruck of Liège in 1781 in exchange for four horses. By the second half of the eighteenth century Sèvres was the most admired porcelain factory in Europe and its products often served as lavish diplomatic gifts.
In the nineteenth century the set found its way into the collections of Felix Monfort and Lord Wellesley.
The gilt-bronze stands are probably French and date from the nineteenth century. C327|1|1|The model derives its name from the Sphinx heads supported by scrolled pilasters on each side. Sphinxes were a popular motif in the seventeenth century which saw a revival in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century neoclassical design.
With their ringlets and exotic head-dresses, the figures on these vases are similar to those designed for the gardens of Louis XIV.
Decorated with a green ground, the vase’s painted decoration shows a trophy on the back and a mythological scene, probably painted by Charles-Nicolas Dodin (op. 1754-1802), on the front: Arethusa fleeing from Alpheus, as Diana enshrouds the naiad in a cloud to protect her from the love-struck river god. With slight alterations, the composition is taken from Étienne Fessard’s engraving of 1737 (copying a Tremolières painting), an example of which was acquired by the Sèvres manufactory in 1765.
The piece may have been part of a garniture with two similarly decorated ‘vases Bachelier à anses tortillées’ also in the Wallace Collection (see C294-5), possibly bought by Madame du Barry in 1773. Later, the three pieces came into the collection of the 2nd Marquess of Abercorn in Bentley Priory, where they were displayed until 1752-3.
The gilt-bronze stand is probably English and dates from the nineteenth century. C330|1|1|The laurel garlands draped around the acanthus-leaf handles of this vase were a popular motif in neoclassical design. The model is named after its designer, Jacques-François Paris (op. 1746-97), who created several new models for Sèvres in the late 1770s.
The landscape on the back was probably painted by Edme-François Bouillat (op. 1758-1810) and the figure scene on the front possibly by Nicolas-Pierre Pithou (op. 1759/60-67, 1769-95). The gallant shepherd and shepherdess are taken from a painting by François Boucher, and the Sèvres painter would have used one of the many prints after it as a reference.
The cover is possibly a replacement made at Sèvres in the nineteenth century, as the original lid was missing by 1865. C333|1|1|This model derives its name from the two fish-tailed female figures on both sides, seemingly adorning the vase with reed swags. This motif was popular in gilt-bronze works of the 1770s and 1780s when hardstone vases were often embellished with similar decoration.

The Siren’s ‘human’ part derives from the female figure of a biscuit group designed by Josse-François-Joseph Le Riche, which suggests he also created this vase model. Decorated with a ‘beau bleu’ ground, the highly elaborate gilding was applied by Etienne-Henry Le Guay, a long-serving worker at the factory and its finest gilder, despite having lost the use of his left hand in a sword fight in 1745.

With two other vases in the Wallace Collection (C288-9) it formed part of a garniture of five sent by the comte d’Artois to the Prince Velbruck of Liège in 1781 in exchange for four horses. In the nineteenth century they found their way into the collections of the dealer Felix Montfort (also known as the Count of Schomburg, 1836) and Lord Wellesley (Brussels 1846).

The gilt-bronze stand was probably made in france in the nineteenth century. C334|1|1|This splendid garniture comprises three vases of the same model, set on lions' -paw feet, whose unusual name is probably a creation of the early nineteenth century. Originally it might have been known as the vase ‘Paris de nouvelle forme’ which would suggest that it was designed by Jacques-François Paris (op. 1746-97).
The striking jewel-like decoration was achieved by applying enamelled gold-leaf foils on the 'beau bleu ground'. Joseph Coteau (op. 1780-4) perfected this intricate and exceptionally rich technique, and may also have decorated this garniture. Despite his success at Sèvres, Couteau's service terminated after only four years because of his difficult personality.
On their fronts the vases are painted with mythological scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, after compositions by François Boucher and Charles Eisen: Pygmalion and Galatea, Primavera with two Cherubs and Bacchus accompanied by two child satyrs. While these were possibly painted by Charles-Eloi Asselin, the bucolic landscapes on the backs are attributed to Edme-François Bouilliat.
Sèvres pieces decorated in the rare and costly jewelled enamelling technique were often given by Louis XVI as diplomatic gifts. This garniture, originally probably bought by Marie Antoinette, was later presented by the king to Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of Frederick the Great, during a diplomatic visit to Paris in 1784.
The gilt-bronze stands are French, possibly eighteenth century. C340|1|1|As its title indicates, this model was intended to be mounted and therefore is made without a foot or stem. A drawing which is still preserved in the Sèvres archives shows that it was ordered on 29 July 1782 by the Parisian luxury dealer Dominique Daguerre, who often collaborated with the manufactory.
Daguerre would subsequently have commissioned a bronzier – possibly the acclaimed Pierre-Philippe Thomire – to create the splendid mounts: a lion-footed base and handles formed of coiling sprays of foliage.
Unusually for this model, the blue 'beau bleu' ground is not plain (see C338-9), but it has been decorated with so-called singeries (‘monkey-tricks’) in gilding.
These playful depictions of monkeys satirically apeing human behaviour were popular in France since the early eighteenth century but didn’t appear at Sèvres before the 1780s. The colour of the wonderfully detailed gilding is in slightly varied yellow, red and green tones.
The pair was probably bought by Louis XVI’s aunts, Madame Victoire and Madame Marie-Adélaïde, in 1785 for the exceptionally high price of 900 livres for each piece, reflecting the cost of the lavish mounts. C342|1|1|The striking combination of dark blue porcelain and gilt-bronze mounts works very effectively in this design. Deep and vibrant colours were much appreciated in the 1780s and the almost hardstone effect of this vase was no doubt part of its appeal. Made without stem or foot, but intended to be mounted in gilt bronze, the design for the vase came from Dominique Daguerre, a 'marchand mercier' or luxury goods retailer who collaborated with the Sèvres porcelain manufactory on several occasions. Although mounted vases were primarily for display, the cover on this model is removable and the frieze below is pierced, which would have allowed it to have been used for pot-pourri with which to scent a room. The anthemion and honeysuckle motif on the frieze is derived from the capitals of the Erechtheion in Athens, a clever conceit that betrays the passion for the Antique displayed by Daguerre's fashionable clientele.
In 1786 Daguerre bought four 'vases a monter' from Sèvres at a higher price than he had previously paid, which suggests that they were four of this new model. Francois Rémond recorded in November that year that he had gilded the mounts of four vases 'with corkscrew handles'. It is not known who cast and chased the mounts, but it may have been Pierre-Philippe Thomire's workshop, which was the favoured supplier of mounts to the Sèvres manufactory. C362|1|1|The European cup for drinking tea evolved gradually during the first half of the eighteenth century, adapted from the Chinese porcelain tea bowls in which tea was originally drunk when it became fashionable in Europe at the end of the seventeenth century. By 1752, the Vincennes manufactory (the early name for Sèvres) was making a wide range of tea wares, many models of the early 1750s remaining in production for the rest of the century, like this one, the ‘gobelet Calabre’ which was introduced in 1752 and is still being produced today. The cup is fairly tall, tapers at the base and has a simple scroll handle. They were sold either as part of a ‘déjeuner’ of tray, cups, saucers (sometimes), milk jug and sugar bowl or in sets with matching saucers, milk jugs, sugar bowls and teapots. The deep saucer that was paired with it was probably used for cooling liquid from the cup, and as a drinking dish.
The extraordinary decoration of this cup and saucer led to their being placed in store at the Wallace Collection for much of the twentieth century as Art Nouveau fakes. They are, however, perfectly genuine eighteenth-century pieces, entirely characteristic of the splendidly imaginative design of which the Sèvres factory was capable in its heyday. A teapot with similar decoration is in a private English collection and another one with the unusual blue and turqoise shellwork pattern was sold at Bonhams on 18 June 2014 (lot number 164). C372|1|1|The European cup for drinking tea evolved gradually during the first half of the eighteenth century, adapted from the Chinese porcelain tea bowls in which tea was originally drunk when it became fashionable in Europe at the end of the seventeenth century. By 1752, the Vincennes manufactory (the early name for Sèvres) was making a wide range of tea wares, many models of the 1750s remaining in production for many years.
This model, the ‘grand gobelet Saxe et soucoupe’, was introduced in 1760. The cup has a handle of moulded acanthus leaves which were frequently found on wares from the Meissen manufactory (located in Saxony, hence the name ‘Saxe’).
Both pieces are decorated with an underglaze blue ground overlaid with 'caillouté' ('pebble-stone') and 'vermiculé' ('worm-tunnel') gilding, and painted with pastoral scenes of children in landscapes. On the cup is a boy with a dog and a rifle, and a boy with a birdcage; on the saucer is a girl, frightened by an eel emerging from a fishing net above her. This delightful scene is adapted from ‘La pésche’, engraved by Jean-Baptiste Le Prince after one of eight decorative panels painted by Boucher for Madame de Pompadour’s boudoir at the château of Crécy. The source for the boy and dog on the cup – although also very much in the style of Boucher, has not been identified, but it also appears on other pieces. C378|1|1|Imported from the Far East, tea was a costly and highly fashionable beverage in Europe in the eighteenth century. The wares designed to serve it were no less luxurious and Vincennes/Sèvres produced wide range from the early 1750s.
This model was introduced in 1752. It was the most common teapot made at the manufactory, and remained in production until the 1780s. Like many early models at Vincennes, it was named after a shareholder of the manufactory, in this case Pierre Calabre. Given that such pots could come in a set with several cups, they seem surprisingly small. This may be because they held a very strong brew of cold tea which was diluted in the cup with hot water from separate jug. This would have been safer for the soft-paste porcelain which was less heat resistant than the hard-paste porcelain products of China, Japan and the German factories.
The combination of dark blue ‘bleu lapis’ ground, and gilded birds in cartouches was very popular during the early 1750s.The baroque forms of the cartouches may have been inspired by late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century French faience, and only briefly appear at Vincennes before being superseded by rococo motifs. C377|1|1|This bowl, used to serve refined sugar with tea, was named after one of the two Bouret brothers who were shareholders at Vincennes and Sèvres. Introduced in 1753, the model remained in production until the 1780s and would usually have been part of a small tea set or ‘déjeuner’.
This piece is decorated with a dark blue ‘bleu lapis’ ground, the first ground colour introduced at the manufactory, and gilded with flying birds in floral cartouches – also a popular motif during the early 1750s. Elaborate tooling was used to create naturalistic effects on the gilding.
A firing crack in the base was concealed with two crossed palm branches in blue enamel on the outside and a spray of gilded flowers on the inside of the bowl. C379|1|1|This egg-shaped model, with an ear-shaped handle and flower knop, was introduced in 1752. It was the most common teapot made at the manufactory, and remained in production until the 1780s. Like many early models introduced at Vincennes (the early place of production before it was moved to Sèvres in 1756), the model was named after a shareholder of the manufactory, in this case Pierre Calabre. Although the pots came in different sizes, they generally seem surprisingly small, especially given that they often came in a set with several cups to serve. The explanation may be that they contained a highly concentrated brew, which would then be diluted and cooled down in the cup.
Decorated with a dark green ground, a flying bird has been painted on the spout, while birds in landscapes are shown on the front and back, framed by elaborate cartouches. The flower painting and gilding on the lid don’t match the rest of the decoration which indicates that the cover may be a later replacement. C390|1|1|This rectangular model was probably named ‘grand plateau carré’ and usually came as part of a larger ‘déjeuner’ (a small tea set). Although matching pieces have not been identified, it is likely that the set was split up in the nineteenth century.
The tray is decorated with a ‘rose mozaique' pattern, a rose ground forming trellis-work with enclosed painted flowers. While floral bouquets are also repeated on the reserves around the rim, the centre features a bucolic scene of children fishing. It is based on Jean-Baptiste Le Prince’s engraving ‘La pésche’, itself taken from one of eight decorative panels François Boucher painted for madame de Pompadour’s boudoir at Crécy (now at the Frick Collection). The scene was probably painted by André Vincent Vieillard, who specialised in Boucher-scenes and repeated this one on other Sèrves pieces. Parts of the elaborate gilding are outlined in carmine red to make the gold stand out against the rose ground. C391|1|1|A ‘déjeuner’ was a small tea set on a tray, including cups and saucers and sometimes other items used for breakfast.
This set pairs a ‘gobelet Hébert et soucoupe’ and a ‘pot à sucre Hébert’, both with typically pear-shaped outlines (for other ‘Hébert’ wares, see Museum Nrs. C254, C255, C455), with a lozenge-shaped tray. This model is known to have been used exclusively for déjeuners like this one, occasionally also including a milk jug.
All pieces are decorated with a dark green ground and painted with children in bucolic settings (mostly based on engravings after François Boucher) and a peasant couple on the tray (taken from Laurent Cars’s engaving after a work by Jean-Baptiste Greuze). These scenes were painted by Charles-Eloi Asselin (op. 1765-98, 1800-4), who often made significant changes to the original sources. Here, Greuze's moralising painting of a woman cheating on her blind husband is turned into an idyllic outdoor scene to decorate the tray. C401|1|1|A déjeuner was a small tea set which included cups and saucers and sometimes other items used for breakfast on a tray. Here two cups and saucers gobelets et soucoupes Hébert and a sugar-bowl pot à sucre Bouret are paired with a tray plateau Courteille. The model of the tray was named after the marquis de Courteille, the King’s representative in charge of the Vincennes/Sèvres manufactory, to whom the first example of this tray was presented in December 1753.
All pieces are decorated with an underglaze blue and an overglaze green ground, a combiation which was mainly used between 1758 and 60 and technically very difficult to achieve. The blue is overlaid with an elaboate gilded pattern known as œil de perdrix (partridge’s eye). Framed by srpays of flowers, the charming figural scenes show children engaged in rustic pursuits such as fishing, collecting flowers, and churning butter. Painted by Andre-Vincent Vielliard (op. 1752-90), they are based on prints after François Boucher whose compositions were frequetly taken up at the Sèvres manufactory.
The service was probably bought by Madame de Pompadour at the big annual sale in December 1759. A teapot and milk jug could be missing from this service, or household examples of silver could have been used in conjunction with the porcelain. This would have been a sensible solution to the porcelain not being able to withstand very hot temperatures, which was one of the drawbacks of the soft-paste material. C426|1|1|Covered bowls like this one were not used at the dinner table but specifically intended for the bedroom or boudoir to serve hot broths during the lengthy ritual of the morning toilette. Its two handles would have allowed the soup to be drunk directly from the bowl and the cover kept the contents warm during the powdering and dressing, while slices of bread could be placed on the accompanying plateau.
This set combines an oval plateau with overlapping scrolls foming handles, and a bowl with handles of twisting laurel branches, foliage and berries. As the name of the 'écuelle' indicates, it is one of the fifty-one models Sèvres created for the Turkish market (see also museum number C495).
The playful trophies by Jean-Baptiste Tandart (op. 1754-1800) show musical and astrological instruments, and attributes of pilgrimage. C430|1|1|Covered bowls (‘écuelles’) and plateaux were for broths or soups, served with bead on the side. They were not used at the dinner table but specifically intended for the bedroom or boudoir where they could be used to serve food during the lengthy morning ritual of the toilette. Two handles would have allowed the soup to be drunk directly from the bowl and the cover kept the contents warm during the powdering and dressing.
The set combines a round plateau with a bowl featuring handles of entwined scrolls on the sides and one in the form of a laurel branch on the cover.
The decoration features elaborate borders of harebells and trailing flower garlands on gilded ‘sablé’ (sand-effect) ground, and a laurel wreath enclosing a trellis pattern and rosette on the plateau. It was painted by Charles-Méreaud jeune who specialised in this unusual decoration during the 1760s.
The pieces may have belonged to the marquis Thomas de Pange in the eighteenth century. C438|1|1|Covered cups and saucers such as this one were not used at the dinner table but intended to serve hot drinks in the bedroom or boudoir. This shape was probably intended for the milk drinks commonly prescribed to those suffering from fever, depression, or the effects of too much alcohol. For these milk diets hot or cold milk was mixed with water, wine, beer, herbal or savoury stocks and cereals. The deep saucer could be used as a bowl for cooling the drink, or as a tray to serve slices of bread.
This popular model, a large bucket-shaped cup with simple scroll handles and a flower knop on the cover, was introduced in 1752 and remained in production until the 1780s. Both pieces are decorated with an overglaze blue ground overlaid with dotted circles (known as ‘fond Taillandier’, after the Sèvres painter Vincent Taillandier who invented it) and punctuated with white circles containing red dots and outlined with gilding. The reserves feature colourful wreaths of flowers and foliage by Jean-Baptiste Tandart (op. 1754-1800) and the flower knop is also naturalistically painted. C439|1|1|Covered cups and saucers such as this one were not used at the dinner table but intended to serve hot drinks in the bedroom or boudoir. This shape was probably intended for the milk drinks commonly prescribed to those suffering from fever, depression, or the effects of too much alcohol. For these milk diets hot or cold milk was mixed with water, wine, beer, herbal or savoury stocks and cereals. The deep saucer could be used as a bowl for cooling the drink, or as a tray to serve slices of bread.
This popular model, a large bucket-shaped cup with simple scroll handles and a flower knop on the cover, was introduced in 1752 and remained in production until the 1780s.
The detailed decoration painted by Guillaume Noël features a blue ground overlaid with caillouté (‘pebble-stone’) gilding at the outer edges, blue and carmine scroll patterns overlaid with trellis-work gilding, swags of drapery and flower garlands. A stylised flower in the centre of the saucer is enclosed by a red 'oeil de perdrix' (partridge's eye) pattern. C441|1|1|This cup and saucer would not have been used at the dinner table but intended to serve hot drinks in the bedroom or boudoir. They were used to serve tea and chocolate or for the milk drinks commonly prescribed to those suffering from fever, depression, or the effects of too much alcohol. For these milk diets hot or cold milk was mixed with water, wine, beer, herbal or savoury stocks and cereals. The deep-socketed saucer would have steadied the cup which suggests that this model was intended for the sick consuming drinks in bed. Introduced in 1762, it may have been specifically designed for Madame de Pompadour who was of increasingly poor health and is known to have bought several examples.
The pieces are decorated with a blue-ground edge flecked with gilded dashes and unusual scrolled panels. The ones in blue are overlaid with sablé (sand-effect) gilding which recalls the lapis lazuli-effect marbling previously used at Vincennes, and the diaper-pattern gilding on the red ones seems to have been inspired by tortoiseshell piquéwork. C443|1|1|This cup and saucer would not have been used at the dinner table but was intended to serve hot drinks in the bedroom or boudoir. It used to be thought that such socketed saucers, which steadied the cup to prevent hot contents from spilling, were intended for the elderly, but Marie-Antoinette had not reached her eighteenth birthday when she purchased one in October 1773. In fact this model appears to have been devised for Madame de Pompadour in 1759 and was intended for use while she was ill in bed during her constant bouts of bronchitis. It contained those nourishing milk drinks prescribed for an invalid diet, which included mixing milk with meat broths, cereals, wine or beer, often served with bread. Socketed saucers were often decorated with complex frieze patterns and this example, perhaps imitating textiles, was painted by Charles-Louis Méraud. C444|1|1|This cup and saucer were not used at the dinner table but intended to serve hot drinks in the bedroom or boudoir. They were used to serve tea and chocolate or for the milk drinks commonly prescribed to those suffering from fever, depression, or the effects of too much alcohol. For these milk diets hot or cold milk was mixed with water, wine, beer, herbal or savoury stocks and cereals. The deep-socketed saucer would have steadied the cup which suggests that this model was intended for the sick consuming drinks in bed. Introduced in 1762, it may have been designed for Madame de Pompadour who was of increasingly poor health and bought several examples.
The elaborate decoration of this set by Guillaume Noël features ‘caillouté’ (pebble-stone) gilding on blue ground, blue and carmine scroll patterns with trellis-work gilding, lambrequins and flower garlands. The outside of the saucer’s socket is painted with a red ‘oeil deperdrix’ (‘patdidge’s eye’)-pattern. C448|1|1|One of at least three saucepan-models made at Sèvres, this model was probably intended to serve barley gruel, as suggested by the name (‘à grains d’orge’ means ‘with barley seeds’) and the decoration which includes gilded barley seed heads. Since soft-paste porcelain could not withstand high temperatues, the saucepans would have been used to serve food rather than to heat it over a fire.
The relief decoration is unusual for 1760 and suggests that the pieces had been produced in the early 1750s but weren't decorated until 10 years later. C450|1|1|Lavish porcelain jugs and basins were used either in the private lavatory, or during the toilette. Displayed on the dressing-table, they were used for washing hands, as people had breakfast during the lengthy morning ritual. Although sometimes their decoration matched that of the other toilette items, they were usually sold separately.
This set consists of a pear-shaped jug with a flat-domed cover attached with a silver-gilt mount, and a shallow basin. Both pieces are decorated with a rose ground and painted with birds in landscapes, which are framed by elaborate gilded rocaille cartouches. Like on many pink-ground wares, the gilding is outlined in carmine which would prevent it from discolouring the ground colour.Gilded lace patterns embellish the outside of the basin.
The set was probably bought by Louis XV in 1758. C452|1|1|Porcelain jugs and basins were used either in the private lavatory, or during the toilette. Displayed on the dressing-table, they could be used for washing hands, as people had breakfast during the lengthy morning ritual. Although sometimes their decoration matched that of the other toilette items, they were usually sold separately.
This set consists of an oval basin and a pear-shaped jug with a handle formed by intertwined scrolls. Like many models of the early 1750s, the jug was named after one of the manufactory’s shareholders, in this case Jacques Roussel. Both pieces are decorated with an underglaze blue 'bleu lapis' ground overlaid with caillouté (pebble-stone) gilding. The painted decoration is by Charles-Nocolas Dodin (op. 1754-1802/3), who was one of Sèvres's most prestigious painters. It is very typical for the mid-1750s, featuring trophies of Love and the Arts and cherubs on clouds. The latter are derived from an engraving after François Boucher whose designs were often used at the manufactory. The elaborate rocaille cartouches with geometric trellis patterns around the reserves are reminiscent of oriental lacquer.
The exceptionally lavish set may have been given by Louis XV to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria during the negotiations for the marriage of his eldest grandson to Maria Theresa's three-year old daughter and later French Queen Marie-Antoinette. C458|1|1|Vincennes and Sèvres toilet wares were for the cosmetics and hair preparations used during the lengthy ritual of the toilette. In the eighteenth century this was undertaken before courtiers, friends and tradesmen.
This set comprises eight items; Two large powder boxes are decorated with heads of corn in relief on the top, as the face and hair powder was commonly made from starch. Gold mounts would provide an airtight seal to keep the contents dry and prevent mites fom infesting the product. The two tall pomade pots would have contained hair and face gease or face creams, and the two smaller boxes were for 'mouches', the black face patches worn by fashionable women at the time. The set also comprises a small brush for removing wig powder and a clothes brush.
All pieces are decorated with a green ground, highlighted with gilding and pained with sprays of flowers.
The service may have been intended for Madame de Pompadour, but was left incomplete on her death in 1764, subsequently being sold in 1767 to the dealer Rouveau. He in turn sold it to Queen Lovisa Ulrika of Sweden (1720 - 82) for whom it was fitted in a toilet table with matching porcelain plaques (now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). Sir Richard Wallace acquired it in 1872 and had a storage case made for the items. C466|1|1|This object consists of four separate pieces. The baluster-shaped pedestal has an opening on the side to contain a small dish and it supports a hollow octagonal middle section on top of which sits a pierced cover.
The function may not be evident at first sight, but as often with Sèvres porcelain the decoration can provide a clue. The cherubs and trophies allegorical of the Sense of Smell and connected specifically with burning liquid perfume indicate that it could have been used as a perfume burner. Missing metal fittings would have allowed liquid perfume to be heated over oil and a wick in the little dish. Alternatively, as suggested by the hen and her chicks on the top, the fittings would have been filled with water over which an egg would have perched, lightly cooked by the rising steam. This piece would have been both ingeniously useful and a luxurious toy in the bedroom or boudoir of someone who was chronically sick like Madame de Pompadour. C472|1|1|This rare model playfully evokes the design of a woven cane basket in luxurious soft-paste porcelain. Filled with fruits or artificial flowers, such baskets probably were the centrepiece for the dessert course at an intimate supper table,The dessert was the final course of a meal in which fruit compotes, jellies, purées and jams, ice creams and sorbets, glacée or fresh fruit, and confectionery were served in elaborate arrangements with dry foods, either in baskets, or piled in pyramids. This basket was probably bought in 1755 by the marchand mercier Lazare Duvaux and sold by him in the same year to the duchesse de Mirepoix. C473|1|1|This 'marronnière' or chestnut bowl playfully evokes the design of a woven basket in luxurious soft-paste porcelain. The trellis-work is formed of a white zig-zag structure, entwined by a blue ribbon, and its handle and the bottom im of the bowl are designed to resemble cane rods. Such 'marronnières' were part of the dessert service and used to serve glazed chestnuts. Presumably the baskets were pierced to make sure the sweets did not become soggy, allowing excess sugar or syrup to drip into the shallow well of the plateau. C488|1|1|Made of soft-paste porcelain, this inkstand combines all the ingenuity, technical brilliance and vibrant colours for which the Sèvres manufactory was renowned in the 18th century and is one of the finest pieces of porcelain in the Wallace Collection. It comprises a large undulating oval plateau supported by elaborately scrolled feet, on which are set terrestrial and celestial globes and a cushion in the centre supporting a crown. The plateau acted as a pen-tray, while the globes housed silver-gilt liners which served in one as an inkwell and in the other as a container for the sand or powdered metal that was used to dry wet ink (like blotting paper). The crown originally contained a bell, for ringing a servant to take away letters when written.
The designer of the inkstand was Jean-Claude Chambellan Duplessis (c.1695-1774). It is decorated with a green ground (fonds verd), in use regularly at Sèvres from 1756, and is painted in two white reserves with cherubs after Boucher, one holding a wreath of flowers and the other a dove, perhaps by Charles-Nicolas Dodin (1734-1803). The celestial globe is pricked with holes that match the position of the stars in the sky; the liner inside would have twinkled brightly through these when not in use. The gilding is of superb quality and includes inscriptions showing the longitude and latitude of major cities and the signs of the zodiac.
The date letter ‘F’ on the underside denotes 1759; although the inkstand does not appear in the sales records for Sèvres, the royal imagery on it suggests that it may have been a present from Louis XV for his daughter Marie-Adélaïde. Medallions on the base depict the head of the French king, the gilded monogram ‘MA’, and gilded fleurs de lis, the emblem of the French monarch. The monogram has caused some confusion in the past, and when the 4th Marquess of Hertford bought it in 1843 it was described as having belonged to Marie Antoinette, Louis XV’s granddaughter-in-law. However, from a stylistic point of view this is highly unlikely as Marie Antoinette did not arrive in France until 1770 when this kind of rococo decoration was no longer in vogue at Sèvres; moreover, one of the medallions on the base shows three fleur de lis within a lozenge shape, a motif denoting an unmarried French princess. C492|1|1|This sculpture is in so-called biscuit porcelain, porcelain that has been fired but not glazed and therefore has a matte, marble-like finish. Introduced at Vincennes in 1751, such small, decorative biscuit sculptures were often used as the centrepiece on an elaborately set up dinder table where they replaced less durable sugar sculptures.
This design, a favourite at Sèvres, is based on a famous sculpture by Étienne-Maurice Falconet (op. 1757-66), known as L’amour Falconet. The marble version, made for Madame de Pompadour, was exhibited in 1757, one year before the design was reproduced at Sèvres.
The pedestal bears an inscription from the Roman poet Virgil’s Eclogues, OMNIA VINCIT AMOR (Love conquers all). C493|1|1|Biscuit wares (in porcelain that has been fired and not glazed) were introduced at Vincennes in 1751, and may have been invented by the designer Jean-Jacques Bachelier. This design, a favourite at Sèvres, was based on a famous sculpture by Etienne-Maurice Falconet, known as 'L’amour Falconet'. Falconet’s original plaster was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1755, and a marble version, made for Madame de Pompadour, was exhibited in 1757, one year before it was produced in biscuit at Sèvres. Frequently biscuit figures of Cupid were paired with similar figures of Psyche, created by Falconet in 1761 (see C494).
The pedestal is decorated with an underglaze-blue ground, marine trophies and swags of flowers painted by N.-L. Petit, and gilding. A pedestal was designed at Sevres to go with the biscuit figures, but the one shown here in fact belongs to a different model, probably 'The Bather', also by Falconet, for which the marine references would have been more appropriate.
This Cupid and its pendant Psyche belonged to the marquis de Courteille (Louis XV’s minister in charge of the factory) and, on his death in 1767, passed to his daughter and thence by descent, appearing in the Paris sale of the Château de Courteille in 1847, when they were sold with the wrong pedestals. C494|1|1|Biscuit wares (in porcelain that has been fired but not glazed) were introduced at Vincennes in 1751, and may have been invented by the designer Jean-Jacques Bachelier. This sculpture of Psyche as a young girl was created by sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet in 1761 as a pendant to the popular statuette after his famous 'amour Falconet'. The turn of Psyche's head engages with her partner who should be placed to her left.
The pedestal is decorated with an underglaze-blue ground, marine trophies and swags of flowers painted by N.-L. Petit, and gilding. A pedestal was designed at Sèvres to go with the biscuit figures, but the one shown here in fact belongs to a different model, probably The Bather, also by Falconet, for which the marine references would have been more appropriate.
This Psyche and its pendant Cupid (see C493) belonged to the marquis de Courteille (Louis XV’s minister in charge of the factory) and, on his death in 1767, passed to his daughter and thence by descent, appearing in the Paris sale of the Château de Courteille in 1847, when they were sold with the wrong pedestals. C513|1|1|This masterpiece from the ‘Golden Age’ of Venetian glass-making is an exceptional example of the glass-makers’ technological virtuosity in simulating hardstones. The exterior of the inverted ogee-shaped bowl and pedestal foot imitate the banded agate chalcedony in contrasting warm and cold palettes. By contrast, the interior and rim of the bowl are pale green, the trail applied to its base is grey and the interior of the foot is greyish-green.

The Gothic form of the goblet, with its inverted ogee-shaped bowl and vertical ribbing, is inspired by metalwork standing cups. The vertical ribbing restricted to the lower section of the bowl is known as 'mezza stampaura', literally 'half-moulding'. 'Mezza stampaura' ribbing was fashionable for such Venetian glass objects as goblets, beakers and footed bowls in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. This goblet may originally have had a cover.

In imitating hardstones, Venetian Renaissance glass-makers were following Roman precedent. They were also exemplifying a new intellectual curiosity about the material world inspired by humanist interest in Classical texts such as Pliny the Elder's 'Naturalis Historia' (AD 77) and their own contact with more distant lands. The glass-makers undoubtedly aspired, also, to appeal to the most luxurious market and challenge the supremacy of mounted hardstones such as chalcedony, rock crystal and turquoise. Writing about Venice in the late 15th century, Marcantonio Coccio Sabellico provides us with a sense of the awe in which this kind of work was held, proclaiming that, ‘There is no kind of precious stone which cannot be imitated by the industry of the glass workers, a sweet contest of man and nature’.

The first known documentary reference to the production of 'calcedonio' glass in Renaissance Italy is contained in a contract drawn up in 1460 between Taddeo Barovier, brother of the renowned glass-maker Angelo Barovier, and an apprentice. Together with some further documents, it indicates the centrality of the Barovier family in the development of 'calcedonio' glass. It was one of the most complex and expensive types of glass to be produced in Renaissance Venice. Highly prized, it supplied a luxury market and a mounted example appears to be described in an inventory of Henry VIII's possessions taken in 1547. C514|1|1|This Venetian glass goblet, with half ribbing ('mezza stampaura') on the lower part of the bowl and a ribbed pedestal foot, takes its inspiration from Gothic metalwork chalices. Many variants of this form were made by the Venetian glass-makers in the later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, but this goblet’s bowl is shallower and more cylindrical than most.

This glass may well have been made in emulation of rock crystal. From the mid-fifteenth century Venice was renowned for its best quality glass, 'cristallo', made in imitation of highly prized, colourless and transparent rock crystal.

The simple yet effective decoration below the rim, of gold leaf incised with a scale pattern and enlivened with blue and green enamel dots, is synonymous with much Venetian glass decoration of the later fifteenth to early sixteenth centuries. It has been suggested that this popular border decoration may allude to the tradition of setting jewels in gold, sometimes as a mount for rock crystal. There are traces of gilding on the ribs on the lower part of the bowl.

Documentary evidence for the Venetian production of drinking vessels with enamelled and gilt decoration at this time is provided by an inventory of the workshop of Alvise and Bernardino Dragan. Dated 20 October 1508, it lists glasses ‘worked in enamels and gilding; glasses with gilded ribbing; ... goblets with gold friezes’.

It is possible that this goblet originally had a cover. C515|1|1|Venetian footed bowls such as this one, with half moulding of the lower section of the bowl achieved by the 'mezza stampaura' technique, were popular from at least the late fifteenth to the early sixteenth century, as is evident from the considerable number of extant examples. The majority are in colourless glass with two or three blue horizontal trails and with ribbing on the lower bowl and foot, as is the case with this example.
The distinctive elongated blister bubbles in the half-moulded lower section of the bowl, some elliptical and others long and pointed at either end, are a result of the 'mezza stampura' technique. They are frequently found on sixteenth-century glasses. During production, two gathers of molten glass are collected sequentially on the blowpipe. The first gather is partly inflated and, after it has cooled to the point of hardness, the second gather is collected at its tip. Due to superficial scarring of the surface during shaping, bubbles often become trapped between the two gathers of glass and, at the conclusion of the 'mezza stampura' process, appear as partial spirals wrapped around the vertical axis of the bowl.
These bowls might have served a variety of functions, but it is surprising to see one serving as a fish bowl in an early seventeenth-century 'Still Life' by Giovanni Battista Crescenzi.
A similar bowl is shown on the chimneypiece in William Holman Hunt's 'Portrait of Fanny Holman Hunt', 1866-8 (Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio), testifying to the nineteenth-century enthusiasm for Venetian Renaissance glass. C516|1|1|This enamelled and intricately gilded armorial bowl displays the coat of arms of the Cini family of Florence. The imagery of the coat of arms has been described as ‘Azure, a mount of six hillocks, or, surmounted by a tree, sinople (vert)’. Bowls of this form were made in Italy from the late fifteenth century until about 1530. Though many examples in maiolica survive, versions in glass versions are rarer.

Four other almost identical bowls are known, their minor differences being in size and in the detail of the flying ribbons; two in the Musée national de la Renaissance, Ecouen, and two in the British Museum. The authenticity of these bowls has been called into question. Some specialists have doubted the authenticity of the bowl in the Wallace Collection on account of the surface sheen of the glass, the unusual, detailed pattern of the incised gilt band on the flange and the quality of the enamelling. Others have queried the bowl’s attribution to Venice, rather than its authenticity, observing that the surface of the glass and the bowl shape are uncharacteristic of Venetian production. However, most recently a glass-maker specializing in Venetian Renaissance techniques has observed that the glass is typical for the sixteenth century and that the techniques of manufacture and decoration are right for the period. If this bowl and the others with the same coat of arms are authentic, they provide important evidence of the production of glass dining services in the early sixteenth century. C517|1|1|This sumptuously decorated armorial flask is a fine example of a prestigious Venetian glass made for the German market. It is exceptional both in depicting two different coats of arms represented independently of each other, one on either side, and in being fairly precisely datable. The arms are those of Lichtenstein, as borne by Christof Philipp von Lichtenstein (c. 1495-1547) between 16 August 1523 and 1526, and Rappoltstein or Ribaupierre as borne by Wilhelm von Rappoltstein (1468-1547) of Alsace. Von Rappoltstein was elected a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1516 and the emblem of the Order, a golden fleece, is suspended from his coat of arms. Christof Philipp von Lichtenstein married Wilhelm von Rappoltstein’s daughter, Margarethe (d. 1566), in 1516.
The Venetian glass trade with Germanic peoples was well established by this time. German families commissioned Venetian glass vessels of various types during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Several other armorial flasks in this distinctive form, known as a ‘pilgrim flask’, bear German coats of arms.
‘Pilgrim flasks’ are so named because their form was inspired by the flasks of similar form which, made from less fragile materials such as leather or metal, were used by travellers such as pilgrims. The suspension loops on C517 are purely decorative, but they recall those on travellers’ flasks that would have been threaded with cord or chain for carrying. The interlaced scrolls terminating in stylized foliage on the sides of C517 may be intended to suggest cords with tasselled ends.
These elaborately adorned flasks were both decorative and functional. Whilst set on a credenza or tiered buffet and used to serve wine or water during formal meals, the luxurious enamelled and gilded vessels demonstrated a host’s good taste, wealth and status. C518|1|1|This elaborately decorated goblet is an outstanding example of the idiosyncratic enamelled and gilded glasses being produced in France around the mid-16th century. Probably made by immigrant Italian glass-makers working near Paris, it is one of a relatively small group of prestigious glasses that have unusual forms and a distinctive style of enamelled and gilt decoration that is inspired by, but differs from, that on Venetian glasses.

Although chalice-shaped and enamelled with the Crucifixion on its foot, C518 is unlikely to have been used during church services. Owing to the fragility of the material, the use of glass chalices for the Eucharist was banned from the ninth century. Perhaps the inscriptions referring to Christ on this goblet, ‘INRI’ (an abbreviation of the Latin phrase meaning ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’) and ‘Sine me nihil’ (Latin, meaning ‘without me nothing’), were intended to protect the drinker, since the use of Christ’s name to ward off evil is well documented at this period. Other elements of the decoration may have been incorporated for their Christian significance. The half marguerites (ox-eye daisies) incised into the gilt band below the rim may be intended to refer to the marguerite as a symbol of Christ’s blood and the Virgin’s tears. The snakes descending to the base of the bowl could refer to the miracle of the bronze serpent (Old Testament, Numbers 21:6-9), for which the New Testament provides a parallel (John, 3:14), ‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.’ Alternatively, the snakes may refer to the serpent that tempted Eve before the Fall, from which humanity was to be redeemed by Christ’s Crucifixion. Either meaning would be appropriate to a drinking vessel decorated with the Crucifixion. C519|1|1|The lightness and fragility of this delicately grey-tinged colourless glass were among the qualities for which Venetian glass was most admired in the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its segmentally ribbed walls, tall, flamboyant scroll handles dexterously capped with pincered cresting, the applied trails, plain at the rim, wavy at its neck base, infuse this vase with a characterful exuberance. The gold leaf on the moulded prunts was picked up on the hot glass just before it was moulded.

Vases of a similar form, often without moulding to the bowl and neck, appear to have been produced over a long period. Fragments from Venetian-style vases with similar handles and trails at the base of the neck were salvaged from the Gnalić wreck, which sank in the late sixteenth century. Yet more than a hundred years later, vases similar in style to C519 was among the glasses acquired by Frederik IV, King of Denmark, when he visited Venice in 1708-9. Vases of comparable design, dated to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, are sometimes more elaborately decorated, perhaps with a vetro a retorti pattern, applied coloured flowers, marbling or engraving. The bowl shape of C519 is atypical, an acorn-shaped bowl being more usual. C520|1|1|This footed bowl, unusual among examples of its type in surviving with its original cover, is decorated with distinctive ‘pineapple’ moulding. This vessel form relied on a Venetian model which may have been produced from as early as the mid-1530s until the early seventeenth century in Venice or in other centres making glass in the Venetian style. There has been some debate about the function of footed bowls of this type. It has been suggested that they were probably used in pharmacies. However evidence from paintings suggests that they were multifunctional. Paintings by Osias Beert the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, dated to the second or third decade of the seventeenth century, show examples being used to serve or drink wine. However, in 'Still Life with Flowers, Fruit and Vegetables' (North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina), dated c. 1610–1625, Giovanni Battista Crescenzi shows a bowl very similar to this one in use as a flower vase. Their representation in several early seventeenth-century paintings testifies to the popularity of this form at that time. C521|1|1|The alternating bands of blue and white ('lattimo') canes on this stunning footed bowl were created by the 'vetro a filigrana' technique. This technique was first produced in Venice around 1527, and became increasingly widespread towards the middle of the sixteenth century. 'Vetro a filigrana' is the generic term used to describe glass with a pattern of canes either embedded in the glass matrix or fused to a glass liner. Patterns of different types are variously identified. The simple pattern of single parallel canes on this vase is known as 'vetro a fili'.

Fragments from a similar vessel excavated in Venice and the popularity of this type of vetro a fili decoration north of the Alps make the attribution of this glass difficult. However, the canes on the underside of its foot do not terminate at a central point, as was the Venetian custom. They were cut with straight shears, which was the practice in the Low Countries, perhaps indicating that the vase was made there. A repeat pattern of several 'lattimo' canes alternating with a single blue and/or red one was popular in the Netherlands in the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century and occurs frequently on Netherlandish and Bohemian glass forms. Beaker fragments from Netherlandish excavations provide evidence of the popularity of a pattern of several 'lattimo' canes alternating with a blue cane.

This bowl form is closely comparable with that of C520, which remained popular into the early seventeenth century. The survival of covers on some comparative pieces, including C520, suggests that this bowl may originally have had a cover. C522|1|1|This colourless glass plate with a turquoise-blue rim and a slight straw tinge in the thicker area of the well was first recorded in the Wallace Collection in 1905.
Plates such as this are hard to date precisely because they appear to have been used over a long period of time. Simple colourless glass plates have Roman precedents. Plates occur frequently in the inventories of Venetian glass-makers and glass plates now attributed to Venice were included in sixteenth-century sets for the Italian market, such as those engraved with the arms of the Orsini and Medici, dating to 1558-76. In an English context, documentary and archaeological evidence indicates the increasing use of glass plates in the seventeenth century. This probably reflects the decline in the use of bread or wood trenchers. Several plates comparable to C522, made in Venice around 1708, are now at Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen. They were probably acquired by Frederik IV of Denmark when he visited Venice in 1708-9.
There are plates that are significantly larger and without the contrasting rim that are generally attributed to Venice and dated to the seventeenth or early eighteenth century. Among plates attributed to Venice there are also some with more complex ornament, such as vetro a filigrana or cold-painted decoration. An aquamarine-blue trail has been described as perhaps being a typical decorative feature of Tuscan production as it occurs on glasses excavated in the region.
While the similarity of this glass to those at Rosenborg Castle, its relatively colourless flange and blue trail suggest a Venetian origin for this plate, the straw tinge in the well is reminiscent of Spanish glass made in the Venetian style, so a Spanish origin cannot be ruled out. C523|1|1|This vase form is inspired by precedents from Classical antiquity. Variants of this vessel shape occur in Italian art throughout the sixteenth century. Spanning the century, examples were illustrated by Francesco Colonna in 'Hypnerotomachia Poliphili', published in Venice in 1499, while in the mid-century Titian illustrated a glass of this form in 'Diana and Actaeon' of 1556-9 (National Gallery, London and National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh) and Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio included a similar glass in 'Penitent Magdalene', probably dating to the mid-1590s (Doria-Pamphili Gallery, Rome).

Early seventeenth-century drawings of or for glasses with similar features to those of C523 are known. A closely comparable example with handles is shown on a sheet attributed to Jacopo Ligozzi, perhaps after 1618 (Gabinetto dei Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi, Florence). The very small foot on C523 is reminiscent of those on glasses depicted by Giovanni Maggi in the 'Bichierografia' of 1604 (Gabinetto dei Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi and Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Florence).

Glasses of similar shape to C523 have been variously attributed to Venice or described as being in the Venetian style. However, the grey-green tinge of C523, as well as its large knop and relatively small foot, are uncharacteristic of Venetian production and suggest that it was made elsewhere in the Venetian style.

The gilding on the trail and knop was applied during the hot working process, in which gold leaf was picked up on the hot glass and fused to it. C524|1|1|‘Pilgrim flasks’ are so named because their form was inspired by the flasks of similar form which, made from less fragile materials such as leather or metal, were used by travellers such as pilgrims. The suspension loops on C524 are purely decorative, but they recall those on travellers’ flasks that would have been threaded with cord or chain for carrying. Glass pilgrim flasks were both decorative and functional. During meals they would be displayed on a tiered buffet and were often used in pairs, for red and white wine or water and wine.
The decorative pattern` of white ('lattimo') canes on this small flask was created by the 'vetro a filigrana' technique. This technique was first produced in Venice around 1527 and became increasingly widespread towards the middle of the sixteenth century. 'Vetro a filigrana' is the generic term used to describe glass with a pattern of canes either embedded in the glass matrix or fused to a glass liner. Patterns of different types are variously identified. Complex patterns of canes like those on this flask are known as 'vetro a retorti', whereas parallel lines of single canes are known as 'vetro a fili' and a regular mesh pattern of canes as 'vetro a reticello'.
Owing to the combination of its shape and decoration, this flask is most likely to have been made in Venice in the second half of the sixteenth century. There is no evidence for the production of pilgrim flasks in 'vetro a filigrana' glass beyond Venice. This flask may well have been made in the third quarter of the century, since towards the end of the sixteenth-century vessels in 'vetro a filigrana' glass with mould-blown features became more popular. C525|1|1|Pilgrim flasks derive their name from bottles of similar shape in leather or metal which were used by travellers such as pilgrims on long journeys. Whereas the suspension loops on flasks for travelling would have been threaded with cords for carrying, glass pilgrim flasks were impractical for travel and were used in a domestic environment, their suspension loops being purely decorative. During meals, glass pilgrim flasks such as C525 would have been displayed on a tiered buffet. They were often used in pairs, for red and white wine or water and wine. This example is exceptionally large.

The decorative pattern` of white ('lattimo') canes on C525 was created by the 'vetro a filigrana' technique. This technique was first produced in Venice around 1527 and became increasingly widespread towards the middle of the sixteenth century. 'Vetro a filigrana' is the generic term used to describe glass with a pattern of canes either embedded in the glass matrix or fused to a glass liner. Patterns of different types are variously identified. Complex patterns of canes like those on this flask are known as 'vetro a retorti', whereas parallel lines of single canes are known as 'vetro a fili' and a regular mesh pattern of canes as 'vetro a reticello'.

There is no evidence for the production of pilgrim flasks in 'vetro a filigrana' glass beyond Venice.The supreme skill of the Venetian glass-makers is evident in this impressive example, even on the underside, with its perfect central convergence of the 'vetro a retorti' canes.

While its colour, wall and foot-ring are characteristic of Venetian Renaissance glass-working practice, the shearing technique evidently used for the completion of the suspension loops is atypical of this production. Nevertheless, the combination of the flask's shape and decoration indicate that it was made in Venice in the second half of the sixteenth century, perhaps more specifically during the third quarter of the century. C526|1|1|This shallow stemmed bowl, known as a tazza, is a fine example of the virtuosity of Renaissance glass-makers. The way the bowl form has been formed in a thinly blown soda-lime glass, with its very localized upturned edge evenly encircling the otherwise flat surface without becoming misshapen, is a feat of craftsmanship of the highest rank. The gilding, in the form of gold leaf, was applied and fused to the glass during the hot working process.
Stemmed glasses with shallow bowls, of tazza shape, were variously used as wine glasses, as items of display or for serving fruit and sweetmeats. Their considerable variety in height may indicate their purpose. This particular tazza was probably intended as a wine glass, despite its shallow bowl. There is well documented evidence from the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of the Italian partiality for drinking wine from shallow glasses. This example is unusual in combining a shallow bowl with a band of 'vetro a retorti' decoration ( a pattern of white canes incorporated into the clear glass) and a lion-mask stem. Lion-mask stems were produced for a long period, from the mid-sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries, both in Venice and in other European centres producing glass in the Venetian style.
Shallow, stemmed vessels were also used in the Netherlands and some fine examples are thought to have been made there.The attribution of this tazza is based on its combination of technical virtuosity and colourless glass which epitomises Venetian production at its best. An accumulation of other Venetian features reinforces this attribution: a 'vetro a filigrana' band, milled trails and a characteristic stem form. However, the virtuosity that could be achieved by glass-makers working in the Venetian style in the Low Countries, together with the popularity of shallow-stemmed vessels there, means that a Low Countries origin cannot be ruled out for this exquisite glass. C527|1|1|This simply constructed and decorated flask with its quintessentially Venetian features, 'vetro a fili' decoration (parallel white or 'lattimo' glass canes incorporated into the colourless glass) and a blue trail, is a delicate and elegant example of a flask form that has had enduring appeal over the centuries.The long-necked, low-bodied serving flask with a small capacity has a long history in Italy, where it is known as an 'inghistera'. The shape has Roman precedents. In the post-Roman era, 'inghistere' are known in Italy from the eleventh century onwards, and a Venetian glass-maker is first recorded as selling them in 1279. While vessels of this shape appear to have been made in Venice or in the Venetian style throughout the sixteenth century, a patent for the production of 'vetro a filigrana' glass (the incorporation of white canes to form a pattern) was applied for there in 1527 and its use increased from mid-century. 'Inghistera' were still being made in Venice in the seventeenth century.

In Italian paintings 'inghistere' are usually depicted on the table, containing water or wine. However, they were also used for other purposes. An eleventh-century bible from an abbey in Spain shows courtly diners drinking directly from long-necked, globular-bodied vessels, and examples excavated in Cremona and dated 1492 contained oil and wine. Long-necked flasks were also used to sell small measures of wine and in a pharmaceutical context.

This serving flask is attributed to Venice, or possibly Spain. Several factors indicate that a Spanish origin cannot be discounted for this glass: the canes are not drawn together at the centre of the underside in the usual style of Venetian glass production; extremely thin, light glass was a feature of Venetian-style Spanish glass at this period, and the greyish-straw tinge of the glass is characteristic of Spanish production. C528|1|1|This elegant shallow-bowled stemmed glass is a tazza. Tazzas were variously used as wine glasses, as items of display or for serving fruit and sweetmeats. There is well documented evidence from the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of the Italian partiality for drinking wine from shallow glasses such as this.
The bowl of this glass is decorated with a regular pattern of mould-blown bosses and has traces of gilding on its underside. Although the gilding is in a protected place, it is very worn. This, together with evidence of a binding medium, suggests that the gilding is probably cold painted rather than fired onto the glass. Glasses of various forms that have similar moulded bosses, also with worn gilding, were produced in Venice, or in Venetian style, over several decades, beginning in the second quarter of the sixteenth century.
This glass is similar to that depicted in Caravaggio's painting, 'Bacchus', of around 1597-8 (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence).
The attribution of this bowl is uncertain. While the greyish tinge of the glass, the thick merese at the stem base and the likely cold-painted gilding indicate that this glass was probably not made in Venice, these features suggest a possible attribution to Hall in Tyrol. However, the shape of the glass and its moulded bosses, a feature sometimes attributed to Tuscan glass, suggest Italian production. C529|1|1|This elaborately engraved vased-shaped vessel and cover is one of a number of such glasses made in the late sixteenth century and known as 'Vasenpokal'. Undoubtedly used as reliquaries at this time, by the early seventeenth century still-life depictions show vessels of similar shape, albeit without engraving, being used as goblets or vessels for serving wine. Many of the engraved vessels are cold painted in their cartouches with profile busts or coats of arms. However, although this bowl has empty cartouches, there is no evidence to suggest that it was decorated in that way.
Traditionally glasses of this type have been attributed to the glasshouses of Hall and Innsbruck in Tyrol. However more recently some scholars have taken the view that they were made in Venice, in part because glasses similar in shape or decoration to that in the Wallace Collection were used as reliquaries in Venetian churches. There is evidence to suggest that they were made both in Venice and the Tyrol. Attribution is problematic, as is indicated by the fact that between 1570 and 1591 Archduke Ferdinand II operated a court glasshouse at Innsbruck where he employed Venetian glass-makers.
The decoration on the glass is created by a technique called diamond-point engraving. Originally a Roman glass decorating technique, it was revived in Renaissance Venice by Vincenzo d'Angelo, who applied for a patent to use the technique on blown glass in 1549. The motifs incorporated into the stylized ornament engraved on this glass may reflect the influence of contemporary lace-making, another important Venetian industry.This engraving style and these motifs occur on a range of other vessels made in Venic or in the Venetian style in the later sixteenth century. C530|1|1|Prized for their technical virtuosity, beauty and complexity, ewers of this type were prestigious possessions. They were broadly inspired by prototypes from Classical antiquity, disseminated via prints such as the designs for antique vases published by Agostino Veneziano in 1531. Their 'all'antica' associations would have added to their prestige. Examples in glass were produced through much of the sixteenth century. Colourless, smooth-bodied examples are depicted in several paintings dated between 1520s and 1550s, including Titian's 'Bacchanal of the Andrians', dating to 1523-6 (Prado, Madrid).
The decorative patterns` of white ('lattimo') canes on this ewer were created by the 'vetro a filigrana' technique. This technique was first produced in Venice around 1527 and became increasingly widespread towards the middle of the sixteenth century. 'Vetro a filigrana' is the generic term used to describe glass with a pattern of canes either embedded in the glass matrix or, as here, fused to a colourless glass liner. Patterns of different types are variously identified. Complex patterns of canes like those on the body, knop and foot of this ewer are known as 'vetro a retorti', whereas parallel lines of single canes, seen here on the handle, are known as 'vetro a fili'. The combination here of 'vetro a filigrana' glass with an elaborately mould-blown body indicates that the ewer was made in the late sixteenth century, when complex juxtapositions of this type were much appreciated.
This ewer is a very sophisticated all-glass hybrid in which a replacement foot with merese has been attached to the ewer below the knop, presumably because the original foot was damaged. Strong market demand for Venetian Renaissance glass in the later nineteenth century was undoubtedly a major reason for the production of such repairs. C531|1|1|The rich and luminous aquamarine-blue bowl of this stocky goblet immediately attracts attention. The mould-blown stem incorporates opposed lions' masks alternating with stylized flower heads over swags, framed by gadroons. Lion-mask stems were produced for a long period, from the mid-sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries, both in Venice and in other European centres producing glass in the Venetian style. The shape of this goblet is closely comparable with that of an enamelled glass inscribed with the date 1581 in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich. That glass, attributed to Hall or Innsbruck in the Tyrol, is one of a relatively coherent group of glass vessels. Other glasses that combine a coloured bowl with a colourless stem or share different features with C531 are variously attributed to Venice or the Netherlands and generally dated to the late sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries.
An intriguing manufacturing flaw is visible on this glass. It is a broken glass bead from a swag on the lion-mask stem. It occurs on a seam from the mould used to produce this section of the stem. This flaw commonly occurs in the area opposite the hinge of the mould. When the mould is not closed fully, there is nothing to contain the rapidly inflating glass wall from 'blowing out' at this small spot, leaving a hole. C532|1|1|This unusual shallow-bowled glass, known as a tazza, appears difficult to drink from, but there is a trick to it. The lion in the centre of the bowl is in fact hollow, and, though now broke at the top, his spiral tail once served as a straw. A small hole under the lion's forequarters allowed the drinker to draw liquid up through the body and the tail. This tazza appears to be a unique survival of a trick-glass in this style made in Venice, or in the Venetian style, in the late sixteenth century. Datable tazze in various materials with stylistic features in common with C532 indicate that this glass was made in the last quarter of the sixteenth century, while C532 has manufacturing features in common with a tazza in the British Museum attributed to Antwerp and other glasses with a close kinship to it, suggesting an attribution to the Low Countries or possibly Venice.
The production of such a complex glass required speed and precision. This tazza was fashioned in three steps: first the lion was made and placed 'on hold' in an annealing oven; then the vessel was made; finally, in a dexterous and skilled manoeuvre, the lion was attached to the vessel.
A number of zoomorphic glass drinking vessels survive from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Perhaps the lion, a symbol of power and prestige, served as a reminder to guests of the status and aspirations in their hosts.
Water games and jokes were a feature of Italian Renaissance dining culture from the fifteenth century. Ceramic puzzle cups surviving from the fifteenth century, including C23 in the Wallace Collection, show that trick drinking vessels were already popular in Italy by that time. By the later sixteenth century the combination of dining and water jokes had become an essential feature of Italian villa entertainment. C533|1|1|Attributed to Venice around 1600, this exceptionally thin-walled glass may have served as a container for religious relics, known as a reliquary, as is suggested by the traditionally cylindrical flanged bowl. Reliquaries made entirely of glass were produced from the end of the fifteenth century, especially in Venice. Inspired by rock-crystal examples with metal mounts, glass reliquaries were still being made in the nineteenth century. Some retain their glass cover surmounted by a cross.

Alternatively, this glass may have served as a goblet. Many similar glasses with cylindrical bowls of varying heights, either with or without a flanged base and a cover, do not have a feature associating them specifically with Christian devotion. Made in Venice or in the Venetian style elsewhere, they may have been intended as drinking vessels rather than reliquaries.

This glass is attributed to Venice owing to its extremely thin, light and almost colourless glass, and the fact that glass reliquaries in this form were produced in Venice. The similarity of its stem form to those that occur on glasses made or depicted around 1600 accounts for the dating of this example. C534|1|1|The flattened bowl of this funnel-shaped, spirally ribbed goblet would be challenging to drink from. Several Venetian-style goblets with compressed bowls are known. They occur in association with various stem forms that are usually dated to the second half of the sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries. The diagonal ribbing on the stem of C534 is known as 'rigadin ritorto' in Venice. It occurs frequently on seventeenth-century Venetian-style drinking glasses. Giovanni Maggi depicted a goblet with a compressed, fan-shaped bowl in his 'Bichierografia', dated 1604. An attribution to Venice for C534 is supported by the fact that Venetian glasses usually have a single merese below the bowl, while Dutch glasses in the Venetian style, for example, often have a compound, 'avolio'-like construction. C535|1|1|The precise function of this unusual small vessel, with its relatively constricted mouth, is not known. However, surface degradation across the widest point on one side may have been caused by adhesive tape from a label that identified the contents being attached to the unstable glass. The concave neck would be a practical shape around which to secure a cover. Two similar vessels in the British Museum have similarly shaped and located areas of surface degradation.

While the simple body shape of this delicate glass points to a sixteenth century date, chain-and-scroll ornament is depicted in Italian pictorial sources dating from the late sixteenth to the first half of the seventeenth century and later.

This vessel is so unusual that there is little comparative material that might provide an indication as to where it was made. It is suggested that it was most probably produced in Venice owing to the extreme thinness of the glass and the typically Venetian contrast of an almost colourless glass body with features in blue glass. The depictions of chain-and-scroll ornament in Italian sources support this attribution. C536|1|1|This goblet has a distinctive straw tinge throughout and features suspended turquoise-blue glass mobile scrolls on either side, from which rotatable rings are suspended.
Hanging mobile rings similar to those suspended from this goblet are recurrent on Baroque goblets made in Venice and in the Venetian style and may derive from German or Bohemian precedents. German barrel-shaped ring beakers dated to the first half of the sixteenth century have numerous metal rings attached to glass loops. A Bohemian goblet with suspended glass rings, in the Decorative Arts Museum, Prague, is dated 1594, showing that glass rings were used to decorate glass dirinking vessels by this time. It has been suggested that besides their ornamental aspect, the rings moving against the glass may have added a pleasing tinkling sound.

Although it is in Venetian style, this goblet is thought not to have been made in Venice, on account its relatively poor quality, both in terms of the glass itself, with its distinctive straw tinge, and its construction, together with its proportions, which give it a slightly squat appearance. C537|1|1|This characterful Spanish rose-water sprinkler was made in the late sixteenth -early seventeenth century. Rose-water sprinklers with bulbous bodies and vertical spouts are typically Spanish, and being closely associated with Catalan production and consumption, are known by the Catalan term 'almorratxa'. They are modelled on similar Arabic vessels, from which the term derives.

'Almorratxas' were used for sprinkling rose water to sweeten the air in the domestic interior. As their decoration is often complex it has been suggested that they were used for special occasions or for display.

Decorative components of this glass are inspired by features typical of Venetian glass-making ('façon de Venise'): 'lattimo' (white) glass canes arranged in a pattern of single lines ('vetro a fili'), here radiating from the base of the bowl, and gilded raspberry prunts.
'Almorratxas' were also made in Venice for the Spanish market. However, this example is typical of Spanish glass made in the Venetian style in the late sixteenth-early seventeenth century, with its straw tinge and canes which imitate 'vetro a fili' but stand out in relief from the vessel surface and terminate rather crudely under the foot.The tall, hollow pedestal foot of this glass is similarly constructed to those on some other Catalan glasses. C538|1|1|The shape of this unusual vessel takes inspiration from a German glass vessel form, the 'Kuttrolf', a container for the slow pouring of liquids, with a globular body and a long, narrow neck comprising or accessed by multiple tubes. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries several variants of the 'Kuttrolf' form were produced for bottles and drinking vessels. 'Kuttrolfs' were made in Venice and in Venetian style ('façon de Venise') in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The interesting shape of this vessel opens up a discussion at to its intended function. Its wide, disc-like mouth is similar to those found on Venetian glasses sometimes described as lamps, perhaps because it was thought that the discs might act as reflectors or draught shields. However it is also comparable to a long-necked vessel in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, which has been described as a wine-taster, and it has also been suggested that vessels of this type may have been perfume dispensers, the discs intended to provide a surface for the perfume to evaporate. It seems unlikely that this vessel, with its single channel, twisted and curved neck and wide, disc-like mouth, would have been suitable for any of these functions.
This glass, which seems likely to have been made in Venice, has features in common with some glasses depicted in Italian drawings dating to the first half of the seventeenth century. C539|1|1|This extraordinarily fragile colourless glass goblet, with its bell-shaped bowl and aquamarine-blue chain-and-scroll ornaments, is a very appealing object. It combines several features associated with Venetian glass production: its extremely thin-walled bowl, its lightness and delicacy, and its deftly executed milled trails and turquoise-blue ornaments.
Italian artists' depictions of glasses with a similar bowl shape span the first half of the seventeenth century, from Alessandro Allori's 'Christ with Mary and Martha' of 1605 in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, to 'Still Life with Parakeet' by Pier Francesco Cittadini (1613 or 1616-1681) in the Galleria Estense, Modena. Chain-and-scroll ornament is depicted in Italian pictorial sources dating from the late sixteenth to the first half of the seventeenth century and later. C540|1|1|The scallop shell was a popular motif for Venetian and 'façon de Venise' glass vessels in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It occurs also in contemporary Italian ceramics. In glass, it was a revival of a Roman glass form that had been especially popular in the Cologne area.

Scallop-shaped vases such as this one were also made in blue glass, 'vetro a filigrana', opaque white and enamelled opaline glass. The shape was used, as well, for the bodies of glass lamps and for a wine-taster in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.
The body of the vase was blown in a full-size mould and drawn up into a funnel-shaped neck. The taller of the opposed applied scroll handles in Prussian-blue glass is a replacement, decorated with a random linear pattern mimicking the regular hatched pattern seen on the original handle. C542|1|1|Cylindrical beakers in glass were widely used for drinking beer in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, especially in the Netherlands. They appear to have been a major product of the Soop glass-works in Amsterdam, active during the first quarter of the seventeenth century. Beer was consumed in far greater quantities than wine in the Low Countries, and beer-filled beakers are depicted in seventeenth-century Dutch still-life paintings such as Pieter van Anraadt’s 'Jug, Glass of Beer and Pipes on a Table' of 1658 (Royal Cabinet of Paintings, Mauritshuis, The Hague).

The cylindrical beaker in ice glass was a popular model, with excavated finds showing that they were in great demand throughout the Netherlands. They are usually attributed to the Low Countries, and examples were certainly made at the Soop glass-works. It is likely that some were also made in Venice for export, since, although their form reflects regional taste, their decoration is in the Venetian style ('façon de Venise').

Glass with a crackled surface, known in Italian as ‘vetro ghiaccio’ (ice glass) was first made in Venice. Very successful in the second half of the sixteenth century, its popularity continued in the seventeenth century. It reflects a contemporary Italian interest in ice and iced drinks. To make ice glass, the hot gather of glass on the blowing iron was plunged into cold water, the thermal shock resulting in a fissured surface.

Cylindrical beakers were made in various sizes. At 23.1 cm tall, C542 is unusually large. Ice-glass beakers have varying degrees of ornament. This example is rather elaborately decorated as it has three stamped lion-head mask prunts alternating with three prunts depicting stylized flower-heads, the rim and prunts being embellished with gold leaf applied during the hot working process. Numerous beakers dated between the latter half of the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth centuries are closely comparable to C542 and have similarly applied but varied prunts. C543|1|1|Bowls of a similar shape to C543, also with a pair of opposed scroll handles, were produced in various sizes and decorative techniques between the mid-sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.They are often attributed to Venice. C543 combines features typical of Venetian production: ice glass and this handle form. It is possible that, like some surviving examples of similarly shaped bowls, C543 originally had a cover or saucer.
Glass with a crackled surface, known in Italian as ‘vetro ghiaccio’ (ice glass), was first made in Venice. Very successful in the second half of the sixteenth century, its popularity continued in the seventeenth century. It reflects a contemporary Italian interest in ice and iced drinks. To make ice glass, the hot gather of glass on the blowing iron was plunged into cold water, the thermal shock resulting in a fissured surface.
The denticulated decoration in colourless glass on the pair of opposed scroll handles applied to this bowl is known in Italian as 'morise'. As is the case here, 'morise' in colourless glass were often applied to a contrasting blue scroll. 'Morise' was an ornamental feature of enduring popularity for the decoration of Venetian and Venetian-style drinking glasses.While some glasses with this feature have been dated to the end of the sixteenth or beginning of the seventeenth century, they are often dated to the wider seventeenth century.
Drawings by Italian artists depicting glass bowls of similar shape to C543 date to the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, but glasses of similar shape, containing liquid, are also shown in paintings produced in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, such as 'Still Life with Murano Glasses' by Christian Beerentz, c. 1710-20 (Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna). C544|1|1|The strong, contrasting patterns on this fine glass goblet exemplify the decorative extravagance of Baroque glass in the Venetian style.
Glass with a crackled surface, known in Italian as ‘vetro ghiaccio’ (ice glass), was first made in Venice. Very successful in the second half of the sixteenth century, its popularity continued in the seventeenth century. It reflects a contemporary Italian interest in ice and iced drinks. To make ice glass, the hot gather of glass on the blowing iron was plunged into cold water, the thermal shock resulting in a fissured surface.
The diagonal ribbing on the stem, known as 'rigadin ritorto' in Venice, occurs frequently on seventeenth-century Venetian-style drinking glasses. Compositional analysis has shown that some stem forms similar to that of C544 were not produced in Venice but elsewhere in the Venetian style ('façon de Venise').
C544 is probably Venetian, combining as it does several features typical of Venetian production: skilful construction, a blue trail and mereses at either end of a spirally ribbed stem. However, since its slight straw tinge is a characteristic of Spanish glass in the Venetian style, and this form of stem shaft is known to have been produced outside Venice in the 'façon de Venise', the possibility that this glass was not made in Venice cannot be excluded. C545|1|1|The tall, tapering flute was the quintessential wine-glass of wealthy Dutch mercantile society from the late sixteenth to late seventeenth centuries.They were produced in large quantities and were made in Venice for the Dutch market as well as in the Low Countries in the Venetian style ('façon de Venise'). Once the fashion for wearing wide ruffs began, around 1625, drinking from a flute may have been a practical measure. Some flutes retain their covers.

Flutes were usually colourless, allowing full appreciation of both the colour of the wine and the quality of the transparent glass. They were often depicted in seventeenth-century Dutch interior scenes and still lifes. Some paintings include a flute similar to C545, such as ‘Pewter Jug and Silver Tazza on a Table’ by Jan Jansz. den Uyl (Private collection, London), which is dated 1633.

The form of stem shaft seen on C545 occurs on glasses dated to the end of the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. The denticulated ornament on its opposed scroll wings is known in Italian as 'morise'. 'Morise' was an ornamental feature of enduring popularity for the decoration of Venetian and Venetian-style drinking glasses.While some glasses with this feature have been dated to the end of the sixteenth or beginning of the seventeenth century, they are often dated to the wider seventeenth century.

Due in part to the purity of its untinted, colourless glass, C545 is thought probably to have been made in Venice, but fine Venetian-style glass was also made in the Netherlands, so some uncertainty as to its place of manufacture remains. C546|1|1|This goblet's bowl is distinctive not only for its unusual shape, with its hollow ring-shaped band and domed base, but also for its stunning aquamarine-blue colour. The date of the goblet's production is uncertain. Its unusual bowl shape and its glossy surface, uncharacteristic for sixteenth to seventeenth century production, have led to the suggestion that it might be a nineteenth-century Venetian glass inspired by historic Venetian and Venetian-style ('façon de Venise') examples. However, the goblet may have been made in late sixteenth to seventeenth century Venice. It is akin in style to a colourless goblet with a closely comparable, smooth-walled bowl and a spirally ribbed stem in the Corning Museum of Glass that is attributed to seventeenth century Venice. The possibility that the goblet was made in this earlier period but outside Venice, though in the 'façon de Venise, cannot be ruled out. C547|1|1|The shape of this bowl is reminiscent of an exceptional Byzantine glass bowl made in Constantinople in the tenth century and taken as Venetian booty in 1204. Recorded in the Treasury of St Mark's, Venice, by 1325, it may have been known to the Venetian glass-makers and their patrons.
The dating of C547 is assisted by contemporary documentation and depictions of similar glassses in visual sources. A document dated 16 September 1594 refers to a monopoly for glasses decorated with threads of gold glass to be made in the Medici glasshouse in Pisa, indicating that glasses with applied threads were made in Tuscany at that time. Small bowls with slightly everted rims and handles like those on C547 are among glasses in a model book with anonymous drawings dating to the first two decades of the seventeenth century in the Biblioteca Casanatense, Rome, and bowls with handles of C547 type feature in paintings dating to the first half of the seventeenth century such as Gioacchino Assereto's 'Isaac Blessing Jacob' (State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg)', dated 1640-50.
There are many bowls with similar shape and handles to this one but without the everted rim, moulded bosses and trails. They were produced in a range of decorative techniques including white glass ('lattimo'), 'calcedonio' and ice glass.
This bowl is attributed as Venetian or 'façon de Venise' because, although it is Venetian in style, the grey tinge of the glass and the presence of many air bubbles may indicate production outside of Venice, perhaps in Tuscany. C548|1|1|The form of this standing bowl and cover derives ultimately from medieval metalwork prototypes as seen, for example, in the late fourteenth century French Royal Gold Cup in the British Museum. C548 is a shallower version of glass standing cups with covers made in Venice from the late fifteenth century. Vessels of C548 type may have been multi-functional, perhaps suitable for use as part of a set for the dressing preparations known as the toilet or as a confectionery box.

Vessels of C548 type may have been produced over a long period. While the ribbed knop and pedestal foot occur in sixteenth-century Venetian glass and pedestal bowls were in use in the Low Countries by the early seventeenth century, the blue chains and finials comprising a 'propeller-pattern' element and terminal ball, both features of C448, occur on glasses acquired in Venice by Frederik IV, King of Denmark, in 1708-9.

The quality of its colourless glass and craftsmanship as well as other typically Venetian features, including contrasting elements in blue glass, support an attribution to Venice for C548. C549|1|1|Salvers such as this were used for the presentation of drinks and sweetmeats. They were proffered either independently or incorporated into a pyramidal serving piece known in Italian as an 'alzata'.

Salvers of this type, with their characteristic blue chain framed by colourless milled trails, are not uncommon. Many are enhanced with a band of diamond-point engraved foliate decoration.The salvers are often attributed to Venice.This one is an exceptionally refined and accomplished example.The skill required to produce its localised, even, upturned rim adjacent to an otherwise flat surface in thinly blown soda-lime glass is masterly. This salver is also unusually ornate in incorporating a spirally ribbed knop between mereses. Salvers of this type are variously dated between the second half of the sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries, but most frequently to the seventeenth century. The broad date span given for this example takes into account the fact that the ribbed knop and pedestal foot occur on sixteenth-century Venetian glasses but also that the applied blue chain between colourless milled trails is seen, too, on the salver presented to Frederik IV of Denmark when he visited Venice in 1708-9. C549 is attributed to Venice owing to its fine craftsmanship, typically Venetian features and similarity to the example given to Frederik IV in Venice. C550|1|1|Of the few published glasses akin in form to this goblet none matches the accomplishment, finesse and exuberance of this stunning glass. Its bowl shape, stem form and combination of a coloured bowl and colourless stem are all features that are independently dated to the seventeenth century.
This stem form occurs frequently on glasses with various bowl shapes dated from the second half of the sixteenth to the end of the seventeenth century and attributed to Venice or as being in the Venetian style ('façon de Venise'). This is the case with the bowl shape, which is found in combination with various stem forms usually dated to the seventeenth century and attributed to Venice or as 'façon de Venise'.
Drinking glasses of fine quality in the Venetian style were much appreciated in the Netherlands, where the standard of glass-making was very high. Although this glass was probably made in Venice, the possibility that it was inspired by Venetian glass-making but made elsewhere, perhaps in the Netherlands, cannot be excluded. C551|1|1|Opinion among glass specialists is divided as to whether this goblet is a genuine seventeenth-century goblet, or a nineteenth-century glass inspired by earlier examples in the Venetian style (façon de Venise). No exact parallels to this glass are known. However, Venetian-style goblets of a comparable shape with a similar bowl to stem proportion are variously dated to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.From a technical point of view, the construction of this goblet is not typical of Venetian production: the merese is poorly made and applied and the foot has been added directly to a hollow bulge at the base of the stem, without the inclusion of a merese between these components. The bulbous terminal is alien to Venetian practice. However, Spanish glass made in the 'façon de Venise' often has a yellow or straw tinge, as does this goblet, while the wide, lobed mouth and small foot seen here are design features of Spanish glass. Furthermore, unusaully shaped goblets sometimes occur in seventeenth-century 'façon de Venise' glass. Therefore there is a strong likelihood that this glass was made in seventeenth-century Spain in the 'façon de Venise', though a nineteenth-century origin cannot be entirely discounted. C552|1|1|This exuberant goblet exemplifies the consummate skill of glass-makers working in the Venetian tradition. It features an unusually wide bowl with broken half-ribbing radiating from its base and a continuous applied trail that encircles it ten times. An 'avolio' (spool-shaped construction) at each end of the open-work section joins the stem to the bowl and to the foot.
Goblets with broken half-ribbing occur in a number of paintings dating between the early seventeenth century and the 1660s by artists of various schools. The feature appears to have been at its most fashionable from the 1640s to the 1660s, as is shown by the majority of the dated paintings, including ‘Still Life with Oysters and Grapes’ by Jan Davidsz. de Heem, of 1653 (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Its use may have continued into the early eighteenth century. Broken half-ribbing was a popular feature of the 'façon de Venise', especially in the Low Countries. Bowls with broken half-ribbing regularly occur in conjunction with stem features which are often dated to the seventeenth century, such as spiral ribbing and winged elements, both of which feature on C552. Here, the openwork section comprises a spirally ribbed tube in a figure-of-eight embellished with opposed wings suggesting sea-horses with pincered manes at right angles to opposed dark-blue C-shaped scroll wings. Based on the evidence of glasses depicted in Dutch paintings, the elaborate openwork stem of C552 suggests that it was made in the mid-seventeenth century. C553|1|1|The bowl of this composite glass was originally combined with a colourless stem of the present type, as shown by the top knop, which was originally colourless but now appears green (see 'Current Condition'). Stems of this type usually incorporate four or five knops, but here the creation of a composite vessel, combining parts from two different glasses, has resulted in a six-knop stem.

Hollow stems with diminishing knops were made throughout the seventeenth century, as is shown by drawings of glasses by Italian artists such as Jacopo Ligozzi (Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe degli Uffizi) that date to the early part of the century and three glasses incorporating coins dating to the later part of the century. One of the latter (Corning Museum of Glass), containing a coin of Pope Innocent XI and dated to between 1676 and 1689, also has a similar bowl shape to C553.

Diamond-point engraving, originally a Roman glass decorating technique, was revived in Renaissance Venice by Vincenzo d'Angelo, who applied for a patent to use the technique on blown glass in 1549. The somewhat crude style of diamond-point engraving seen on the bowl of C553 recurs on many Venetian-style drinking glasses, with a variety of bowl and stem forms. Glasses on colourless stems, with variously shaped mulberry bowls bearing crudely engraved floral decoration, are not uncommon.

Composite Venetian-style glasses reflect the demand for Venetian Renaissance glass amongst collectors in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. C554|1|1|This goblet has an elaborate stem that coils in a snake-like way and culminates below the bowl in a pair of opposed, stylised dragons’ heads with tooled combs. Drinking vessels with stems of this type are known as serpent-stem goblets. They provided seventeenth-century glass-makers working in the Venetian tradition with the opportunity to beguile and baffle the beholder with their virtuosity. Such goblets were very popular from the 1660s to the 1680s.

Complex compound stems were first produced in Venice at the end of the sixteenth century, but were later made in other centres, being especially popular in the Low Countries and continuing in production until at least the end of the seventeenth century. Serpent-stem goblets were produced in a number of Northern glass-houses, but stylistic and compositional similarities make their attribution to a specific region or city hazardous. Ultraviolet examination of this goblet has shown that it is a soda lead glass, a compositional type associated with the transition in Northern Europe from Venetian soda glass to lead crystal.

With their complex stems, serpent-stem goblets took longer to make than simpler drinking glasses. This goblet is unusual as it has four small arch-topped wings bordering each side of its serpent stem section instead of two or three. Although numerous still lifes depict goblets with coiled serpent stems, hardly any paintings show the winged type, which has survived in far greater numbers. C555|1|1|This cruet is a composite vessel, its original foot having been damaged and replaced with a foot attached to it with adhesive. Three applied mask prunts, one on the spout and one on either side of the body, embellish the glass.
There are numerous cruets that are similar to this one, attributed as Venetian or façon de Venise and dated from the mid-sixteenth to the eighteenth century. Their shape is reminiscent of traditional Oriental prototypes in other materials.

Glass cruets were often used in pairs: for wine and water for mass or in a secular context for wine or oil and vinegar. The 1424 inventory of the Gambassi glass-maker Bernardo de Carpensis draws a distinction between cruets for domestic and liturgical use.

Glass cruets for liturgical use span many centuries. Fragments from a fourteenth-century colourless glass cruet unearthed at the church at Ganagobie in Provence display features of form and decoration in common with this cruet. In a secular context glass cruets were not only used for dining; small cruets of similar shape to this cruet were also made for pharmaceutical use. C556|1|1|The body of this small amber glass scent-bottle is mould-blown with ribs throughout. It has an applied colourless glass foot and six applied and gilded blue glass raspberry prunts. The gilded prunts locate it within the Venetian glass-making tradition, while its double gourd shape suggests Asian influence. Vessels of similar form were appreciated in Italy by at least the mid-seventeenth century. A closely comparable vessel is depicted in the ‘Libro del Serenissimo Signore Principe Luigi d’Este’, a series of designs for Venetian-style glasses produced between about 1617 and 1664, but probably made in the first half of the seventeenth century. However, the scent-bottle cannot be firmly attributed to Venice because it shares characteristics with glasses that have been attributed to other centres making glass in the Venetian style.

There are similarly shaped bottles in various sizes, both ribbed and smooth-sided, that are made from other glass materials, such as opaline and colourless glass.

The scent-bottle would originally have had a stopper. C557|1|1|Glass bottles and covers of this form, in a range of decorative techniques, were fashionable in the early eighteenth century. They were used for serving wine. When King Frederik IV of Denmark visited Venice in 1708–9 he acquired similar bottles.

This bottle and cover, with vertical mould-blown ribs, is in ice glass. Made in imitation of ice, Venetian ice glass was very popular in the later sixteenth century and its popularity continued in the seventeenth century. It reflects the contemporary interest in ice and iced drinks, especially wine. To achieve the fissured surface, which resulted from thermal shock, the hot, partially inflated gather of glass on the end of the glassmaker’s blow pipe was plunged into cold water. C559|1|1|The shape of this cruet is typical of examples in Venetian glass and reminiscent of traditional Oriental prototypes in other materials. Colourful polychrome glass flowers, like those applied to the cruet body, were a Venetian speciality. There is documentary evidence for their use on Venetian glass from the last quarter of the seventeenth century, but this style of ornament became especially widespread in the eighteenth century. Their presence on this cruet is helpful for dating the piece.

This cruet is in fact a composite vessel, assembled from separate components that did not belong together originally. In this case four components were added to a damaged cruet: the foot and the blue ring above the foot; the spout; and the mask prunt on the spout. Strong market demand for Venetian Renaissance glass in the later nineteenth century was undoubtedly a major reason for the production of such repairs.

Glass cruets were often used in pairs: for wine and water for mass or in a secular context for wine or oil and vinegar. The 1424 inventory of the Gambassi glass-maker Bernardo de Carpensis draws a distinction between cruets for domestic and liturgical use.

Glass cruets for liturgical use span many centuries. Fragments from a fourteenth-century colourless glass cruet unearthed at the church at Ganagobie in Provence display features of form and decoration in common with this cruet. In a secular context glass cruets were not only used for dining; small cruets of similar shape to this cruet were also made for pharmaceutical use. C560|1|1|This flamboyant vessel, with its straw tinge and applied lattimo canes inspired by Venetian vetro a filigrana glass, displays the exuberance of Spanish glass in the façon de Venise.

The càntir is a drinking vessel of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, most usually associated with the consumption of water. The vessel was filled through the short spout; the long, narrow spout produced a well-regulated flow that enabled the drinker to drink without putting his lips in contact with the glass, so it could be used hygienically for communal drinking.

The càntir is a characteristic eighteenth-century Catalan glass vessel. Throughout the eighteenth century one of the most popular decorative features of Catalan glass was the application of lattimo ‘threads’. The technique employed and results obtained were less skilled than those of the Venetian glass-makers, as is demonstrated on this càntir by the lattimo canes which terminate randomly under the foot rather than converging at its centre. C563|1|1|This type of enamelled drinking glass, known as a Humpen, was a popular vessel in Bohemia and Germany for use at festive gatherings. The Humpen was one of the most abundantly produced types of enamelled glass in seventeenth-century Bohemia and Germany. They were at their most popular from the 1570s until well into the seventeenth century and many have survived. Many originally had covers, but these have often been lost or broken.

Drinking scenes were a popular subject for enamellers of German and Bohemian glass. There was a tradition of welcoming guests by presenting them with a capacious drinking cup or tankard. This beaker is a Willkomm, a category of Humpen specifically intended to be used for welcoming guests. Inscriptions on Willkomm beakers describing their function as welcoming glasses are not uncommon. The inscription in block capitals encircling this example means, ‘I am called a good welcome and very frolicsome so’. Beer or wine would have been drunk from the glass. In 1688 a French traveller recorded that in Germany, ‘Every Draught must be a Health, and as soon as you have emptied your glass, you must present it full to him whose Health you drank.’ This custom is reflected in another inscription on this glass, which translates, ‘Raise me up, drink me up, set me down, fill me again and bring me a good brother again’. C564|1|1|The neck, squat body and separately formed pedestal foot of this thick-walled colourless glass vase are mould-blown throughout with pronounced ribs. The pair of applied scroll handles is also rib-moulded.

This vase is unusual on account both of its shape and the severity of its glass sickness (crizzling), caused by chemical instability. Stylistically and in its state of deterioration it has much in common with two blue glass vases in the British Museum, the ‘Amiens Chalice’ and a vase from the Slade bequest. Their close kinship suggests a common origin for the three glasses. Attribution of the British Museum glasses has fluctuated dramatically since the 1860s. An attribution to late seventeenth-century France seems likely for the three glasses by stylistic comparison with French ceramics of the period and similar vase forms in other materials that were appreciated by the French court at the time, such as those in bronze by François Anguier and Claude Ballin for the gardens at Versailles. Due to the severely deteriorated condition of the Wallace Collection glass, it cannot be attributed on the basis of analysis results. However, analysis results for the British Museum glasses are compatible with an attribution to late seventeenth-century France. C570|1|1|This delicate, thin-walled scent bottle is the only glass in the Wallace Collection produced by the flame-working technique. No parallel is known for the decoration of small dots of applied glass over the entire body of a similar vessel, so that the origin of this glass is uncertain, though a nineteenth-century date seems likely.

Intended as a container for scent, or possibly for snuff, this glass would originally have had a stopper. The two suspension loops at its neck suggest that it was supposed to hang from a thread, perhaps attached to a chatelaine chain, although this would be impractical owing to its fragility. There is no indication that the broken loop originally made contact with the neck.

The horn-like shape of this glass has many larger, wide-mouthed precedents in the form of glass drinking vessels from various periods. Cut glass horn-shaped scent- or smelling-bottles were made in England in the second half of the nineteenth century. C571|1|1|St Catherine of Alexandria is depicted with her attributes of a book as patron of education and learning, and a sword, the symbol of her martyrdom by beheading. She triumphs over the pagan Emperor Maxentius, who ordered her death. The inscription invokes the saint to intercede on behalf of the suppliant. In the Middle Ages St Catherine was one of the most venerated female saints. She was believed to give protection against disease and sudden death. Devotion to St Catherine increased in France in the fifteenth century following her rumoured appearance to Joan of Arc.

The plaque is attributed to the Master of the Orléans Triptych because it shares several stylistic characteristics with the so-called Orléans Triptych in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Orléans, around which attributions have been made to this anonymous workshop.The plaque appears to have come from the same small devotional altarpiece as C572. C572|1|1|St Francis was born into a wealthy family in Assisi, Italy, and lived a carefree youth until he had a vision of Christ calling him to save the Church. Renouncing worldly goods, he dedicated himself to a life of poverty, charity and preaching. In 1209 he founded the Order of Friars Minor [lesser brothers], which grew rapidly in his lifetime. Adherents became known as Franciscans. Canonised in 1228, the saint is depicted here as a Franciscan monk.

The cult of St Francis was widespread in fifteenth-century France. This plaque illustrates a miraculous event in the saint’s life, when he received the stigma, the five marks corresponding to the wounds of the crucified Christ. This event occurred on or around 14 September 1224. Whilst praying, Francis had a vision of a seraph, a six-winged angel, on a cross. The seraph marked his hands, feet and side with the stigmata.

The plaque is attributed to the Master of the Orléans Triptych because it shares several stylistic characteristics with the so-called Orléans Triptych in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Orléans, around which attributions have been made to this anonymous workshop. The plaque appears to have come from the same small devotional altarpiece as C571. C573|1|1|This plaque is attributed as a late work of the workshop of the Master of the Orléans Triptych. It is not dated, but several criteria indicate that it was probably made around 1500–10. It is closely comparable with two similarly attributed and dated enamels, one in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Troyes, the other in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collections until at least 2015. Their composition was probably inspired by an anonymous north Italian engraving of the subject dating to around 1480–90. Enamels from the workshop’s late period are deemed to show the earliest evidence amongst the Limoges enamellers of the influence of the Italian Renaissance.

The plaque was probably intended as an individual image for private devotion. It may be a straightforward depiction of the education of the Christ Child. However, the book may have deeper meaning. When shown open it is a traditional symbol of wisdom and truth, so that the scene may be intended to indicate that Christianity is the true religion. The inclusion of the book could also allude to Mary as the ‘Mater Sapientiae’, the Mother of Wisdom. Since Christ also holds the book, it may be used here as a symbol of the New Testament or the Gospels. C589|1|1|This celebrated plaque is the only fully signed and dated enamel by Jean de Court, whose identity has been debated by enamel specialists since the nineteenth century. It is possible that he can be identified with Jean Court, whose prolific workshop used the maker's mark IC; with the enameller Jean Court dit Vigier, who was active between 1555 and 1558, sometimes writing his full name, sometimes using the mark ICDV; and with the court painter Jean de Court, last cited in an archival document in 1585. A possible connection with the enameller who used the mark IDC (see C594) also continues to be a subject of discussion.

The plaque depicts Marguerite de France (1523–1574), daughter of François I, as Minerva, the goddess of war and wisdom in Classical mythology. Marguerite was known for her erudition and for her encouragement of contemporary French writers. The poet Pierre Ronsard first made the analogy between Marguerite and Pallas/Minerva in 1549. From then until 1559, when she married Emmanuel-Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and moved to his court at Turin, French writers repeatedly identified Marguerite, who in her wisdom championed their writing against ignorance, with Pallas/Minerva. This identification was highly topical in 1555, the year when this plaque was made: Ronsard repeated the analogy that year and it was extensively developed by François de Billon. As a symbol of the universe, the armillary sphere expresses the concept of the spread of Marguerite’s fame throughout the universe and may allude to her motto, ‘Rerum sapientia custos’ [Wisdom, guardian of the world].

Marguerite’s head is after a version of a drawing of her attributed to François Clouet around 1555 (Musée Condé, Chantilly). For Marguerite’s armour, the sphere, books and owl, de Court took inspiration from René Boyvin’s engraving of Minerva after Luca Penni. C590|1|1|This bowl, like C591 and C592, is marked IC for the workshop using the maker’s mark IC, which was active from the mid-16th to the early 17th century. The mark probably originated as that of an enameller named Jean de Court who ran a prolific workshop and may perhaps be identified with the enameller who signed C589 with his name in full in 1555. The workshop using the mark IC regularly depicted Old Testament subjects. Their grisaille enamels are usually dated to the second half of the sixteenth century.

The battle depicted here is described in the biblical book of Exodus (17:8-13). During their wanderings in the desert the Israelites camped at Rephidim. The Amalekites met them there and a battle ensued, in which the Israelites were led by Joshua. When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but when his hand dropped the Amalekites prevailed. At the point shown on the bowl, Moses has grown weary and is seated on a mound in the background on the right while Aaron and Hur hold up his hands. The Israelites won the battle at sunset.

The scene is after a woodcut by Bernard Salomon from ‘Quadrins historiques de la Bible’ by Claude Paradin, first published in Lyons 1553. Salomon’s prints from the book were used extensively by the Limoges enamellers and much favoured by the workshop using the maker’s mark IC. This scene occurs on several similar footed bowls by the workshop, including one in grisaille in a private collection and a polychrome example in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

Wide, shallow bowls like this would not have had a cover. C591|1|1|This bowl, like C590 and C592, is marked IC for the workshop using the maker’s mark IC, which was active from the mid-16th to the early 17th century. The mark probably originated as that of an enameller named Jean de Court who ran a prolific workshop and may perhaps be identified with the enameller who signed C589 with his name in full in 1555. The workshop using the mark IC regularly depicted Old Testament subjects. Their grisaille enamels are usually dated to the second half of the sixteenth century.

The form and decorative style of this bowl are typical of the workshop using the mark IC and similar to C590. The scene in the bowl shows several episodes from the story of Noah and the flood in the biblical book of Genesis (6-9). In the centre background the ark is on the water; on the left, people are trying to escape the flood; in the right background, the waters have begun to recede; in the foreground, the flood waters have receded and the survivors, comprising Noah, his family, animals and birds, emerge from the ark onto dry land.

Some details and the overall style of the scene appear to be loosely derived from two prints on this theme published by Etienne Delaune in his print series ‘Histoire de la Genèse’ in 1569. The scene depicted on the bowl occurs on three further footed bowls by the workshop using the mark IC, two in grisaille (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris) and one in polychrome enamel (British Museum).

Wide, shallow bowls like this would not have had a cover. C592|1|1|This plate, like C590 and C591, is marked IC for the workshop using the maker’s mark IC, which was active from the mid-16th to the early 17th century. The mark probably originated as that of an enameller named Jean de Court who ran a prolific workshop and may perhaps be identified with the enameller who signed C589 with his name in full in 1555. The workshop using the mark IC regularly depicted Old Testament subjects.

The plate illustrates an episode from the Old Testament story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50), a theme that was a speciality of this workshop. The episodic nature of the story lent itself to the production of serial items, such as plates. C592 was probably part of a larger set illustrating the story. It may be from the same set as C593, which does not have a maker’s mark. No complete set has been identified, but surviving examples suggest that the workshop may have made at least four sets.

The source for the central scene on C592 is a woodcut by Bernard Salomon from the ‘Quadrins historiques de la Bible’ by Claude Paradin, first published in Lyons in 1553. Joseph has broken off from supervising the storage of grain to converse with Pharaoh. The lavish use of jewel-like paillons, small areas of translucent coloured enamel over foil, together with intricately detailed gilt patterns, and the use of polychrome enamel rather than grisaille, indicate a production period towards the end of the sixteenth or early in the seventeenth century. C593|1|1|This plate is attributed to the workshop using the maker’s mark IC, which was active from the mid-16th to the early 17th century. The workshop using the mark IC regularly depicted Old Testament subjects. The plate illustrates an episode from the Old Testament story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50), a theme that was a speciality of this workshop. The episodic nature of the story lent itself to the production of serial items, such as plates. C593 was probably part of a larger set illustrating the story. It may be from the same set as C592, which is inscribed with the IC mark. No complete set has been identified, but surviving examples suggest that the workshop may have made at least four sets.

The central scene illustrates a pivotal moment in the story, when Joseph is imprisoned after being falsely accused of attempting to rape the wife of his employer, Potiphar. The source for the composition is a woodcut by Bernard Salomon from the ‘Quadrins historiques de la Bible’ by Claude Paradin, first published in Lyons in 1553. The lavish use of jewel-like paillons, small areas of translucent coloured enamel over foil, together with intricately detailed gilt patterns and the use of polychrome enamel rather than grisaille, indicate a production period towards the end of the sixteenth or early in the seventeenth century. C595|1|1|The viol-playing god Apollo presides over the nine music-making Muses, while behind them two poets crowned with laurel wreathes converse. The winged horse Pegasus stamps to prevent the mountain from rising in response to the music. His stamping creates the Hippocrene stream, personified by the young woman below Apollo who pours water from a vase. The composition derives ultimately from Raphael’s Parnassus fresco in the Vatican, but its direct source is an engraving after a drawing by Luca Penni. Penni’s modifications to Raphael’s composition include the addition of Pegasus and the Hippocrene stream, both of which are associated in classical mythology with Apollo and the Muses on Mount Helicon, rather than Parnassus. The coat of arms suspended from the tree has not been identified. C596|1|1|During the Medieval period the city of Limoges was the one of the most important centres in Western Europe for the large-scale production of metalwork in copper. Objects were cast in moulds, then chased, engraved and sometimes enamelled. Limoges copper-gilt metalwork was widely exported throughout Europe. This relief, which is notable for the exceptionally elaborate chasing of the garments of the six figures, was probably originally attached either to the front of an altar or, possibly, to the side of a reliquary casket or chasse (reliquary or shrine).