Plate with border of grotesques on an orange ground; in the center, Narcissus gazing at his reflection in a fountain, c. 1510/1520

West Building, Ground Floor — Gallery G10

Medium

tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)

Dimensions

overall (diameter): 26.1 cm (10 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.315

Artists / Makers

Sienese 16th Century (ceramist) Sienese, 16th century

Image Use

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Provenance

Adrien-Joseph Rattier, Paris (sale, Paris, 21-24 March 1859, no. 17).[1] Octavius Coope, Brentwood, Essex; (his estate sale, sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 3-5 May 1910, no. 35);[2] (Duveen Brothers, London), for 3700 guineas; purchased February 1912 by Peter A. B. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from the Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, 1942.

[1] Catalogue des objets d'art et de haute curiosité composant la collection de feu M. Rattier (Paris, 1859), no. 17, as Faenza.

[2] Catalogue of the choice collection of Old Italian Majolica...formed by Octavius E. Coope, Esq. (London, 1910), no. 35, repro., as Siena.

Associated Names

Coope, Octavius
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Rattier, Andrien-Joseph
Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

Exhibition History

1862: Special Exhibition of Works of Art of the Medieval, Renaissance, and More Recent Periods on Loan at the South Kensington Museum, South Kensington Museum, London, 1862, no. 5164, repro. Rev. ed. 1863.

1982: Sixteenth-Century Italian Maiolica; Selections from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection and the National Gallery of Art's Widener Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982-1983, no. 6, repro.

1994: Fanciful Flourishes: Ornament in European Graphic Art and Related Objects, 1300-1800, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994, brochure, no. 43, as Plate with border of grotesques.

Technical Summary

Earthenware, covered front and back with a glossy white tin glaze, which has bubbled near the rim on the reverse. Painted in orange, blue, yellow, white, green, and purple. On the sides of the well are three kiln-support marks. There is minor wear and chipping and some overpaint, to the edge. A crack from four o'clock to the center has been slightly overpainted and filled at the edge.

Bibliography

1862: South Kensington 1862, no. 5164, repro.

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 53, as Siena (Maestro Benedetto), c. 1500.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 12, as Siena (Maestro Benedetto), about 1500.

1983: Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 117, no. 2, repro., as Siena, c. 1510.

1993: Distelberger, Rudolf, Alison Luchs, Philippe Verdier, and Timonthy H. Wilson. Western Decorative Arts, Part I: Medieval, Renaissance, and Historicizing Styles including Metalwork, Enamels, and Ceramics. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1993: 122-125, color repro. 123.

2019: Vignon, Charlotte. Duveen Brothers and the Market for Decorative Arts, 1880-1940. New York, 2019: 225 fig. 81, 275 n.307.