A rare showpiece of early Florentine maiolica, this large cotino, or basin, depicts a mounted cavalier—a favorite motif on chests, tapestries, and other decorative arts of the time. Smaller cotini were used as serving plates, but the size and accomplished decoration of this work suggest that it was intended for display rather than a utilitarian purpose.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Large Dish
Date:ca. 1420
Geography:Made in Florence or its vicinity, Tuscany, Italy
Culture:Italian
Medium:Tin-glazed earthenware
Dimensions:Overall: 27 1/4 x 3 3/8 in. (69.2 x 8.6 cm)
Classification:Ceramics
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1946
Accession Number:46.85.1
Inscription: Inscribed: (to left of rider's head - TE reversed) - see catalogue card
G. de Beaucorps(Exposition de l'Union centrale, Paris, 1865); John-Lèonce Leroux, Paris (by 1888–sold April 13,1896); [his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris (April 13–18, 1896, no. 1)]; Sigismond Bardac, Paris (by 1897–sold 1913); [ Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co., Paris and New York (1913–1914)]; Mortimer L. Schiff, New York (1914–d. 1931); John M. Schiff, New York (1931–sold 1946); [his sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York (May 4, 1946, no. 57)]
Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts appliqués à l'Industrie, Paris. "Exposition de 1865," August 10–October 10, 1865.
New York. The Cloisters Museum & Gardens. "The Secular Spirit: Life and Art at the End of the Middle Ages," March 28–June 15, 1975.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Renaissance Maiolica: Painted Pottery for Shelf and Table," October 20, 2016–May 29, 2017.
Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts appliqués à l'Industrie. Exposition de 1865 – Palais de l'Industrie. Musée Rétrospectif. Paris: Julien Lemer, 1867. no. 2677, p. 237.
Molinier, Emile. La céramique italienne au XVe siècle. Petite bibliothéque d'art et d'archéologie, Vol. 7. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1888. p. 21.
Catalogue des objets d'art et de haute curiosité [...] composant la collection de feu M. Leroux. Paris: Hôtel Drouot, April 13–18, 1896. no. 1, p. 5, ill.
Molinier, Emile. "La céramique italienne au Louvre." Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 3rd ser., 18, no. 2 (August 1897). pp. 149–50.
Wallis, Henry. Oak-leaf Jars: A Fifteenth Century Italian Ware Showing Moresco Influence. London: Bernard Quaritch, 1903. p. 57, fig. 55.
Bode, Wilhelm von. Die Anfänge der Majolikakunst in Toskana, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Florentiner Majoliken. Berlin: Julius Bard, 1911. p. 10, pl. V.
Leman, Henri. Collection Sigismond Bardac: Faïences italiennes du XVe siècle. Objets de haute curiosité, Moyen Âge et Renaissance. Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1913. no. 1, ill.
Ricci, Seymour de, ed. A Catalogue of Early Italian Majolica in the Collection of Mortimer L. Schiff. New York: s.n., 1927. no. 8, ill.
Avery, C. Louise. "The Mortimer L. Schiff Collection: Early Italian Maiolica." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 33, no. 1 (January 1938). p. 12, fig. 1.
The Magnificent Collection of Italian Majolica Formed by the Late Mortimer L. Schiff. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, May 4, 1946. no. 57, pp. 34–35, ill.
Husband, Timothy B., and Jane Hayward, ed. The Secular Spirit: Life and Art at the End of the Middle Ages. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975. no. 64, p. 59.
Syson, Luke. "Italian Maiolica Painting: Composing for Context." In Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, edited by Timothy Wilson. Highlights of the Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. p. 20.
Wilson, Timothy. Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Highlights of the Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. no. 5, pp. 58–59.
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