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Deruta 16th Century

Large dish with border of floral scrollwork and cornucopias; in the center, profile bust of "Faustina", c. 1510/1535

Not on View

Medium

tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)

Dimensions

overall (diameter): 41.2 cm (16 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.322

Artists / Makers

Deruta 16th Century (ceramist)

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

on scroll in front of the woman's face: F / AUSTI / NA.PULIT / A.EB / ELLA; on tablets in the border: TIMOR / DOMIN/I

Marks and Labels

Kann collection label 13 (now in object folder, NGA Curatorial Records)

Provenance

Alessandro Castellani [1823-1883], Rome; (his sale, Paris, 27-29 May 1878, no. 169). Maurice Kann [1839-1906], Paris; purchased 1908 with the entire Kann collection by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); purchased February 1910 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.

Associated Names

Castellani, Alessandro
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Kann, Maurice
Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

Exhibition History

1877: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1877.

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. 14, color repro. on cover.

1999: The Moon & the Stars: Afterlife of a Roman Empress, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, Massachusetts, 1999, no. 13, repro.

2001: Virtue and Beauty: Leonardo's Ginevra de' Benci and Renaissance Portraits of Women, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2001-2002, not in cat.

2004: La Ceramica Umbra al Tempo di Perugino [Ceramics in Umbria in the time of Perugino], Museo Regionale della Ceramica di Deruta, 2004, no. 21, repro.

Technical Summary

Earthenware, covered on the front and edge with a white tin glaze, on the reverse with a speckled and slightly pockmarked yellowish brown glaze, which has crawled off the body in small patches. On the reverse, low ridges radiate from the foot ring toward the edge. The painting is in blue with golden-yellow luster. In the foot ring are two holes for suspension, made before firing, placed in such a way that the dish hangs from them slightly askew. There are three kiln scars on the reverse, one near the edge, two on the curving sides of the well. There are patches of damage, filled and inpainted, on the woman's head cloth, the front of her dress, and the rim at four o'clock. The glaze is scuffed, and there is some wear and chipping on the outer and inner edges of the rim.

Bibliography

1877: Beckwith, Arthur. Majolica and Fayence. New York, 1877: 88-89, fig. 32, as Pesaro or Gubbio.

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 56, as Deruta, c. 1520.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 12, as Deruta, about 1520.

1983: Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 124-125, no. 2, repro., as Deruta, first third of sixteenth century.

1989: Rasmussen Jörg. The Robert Lehman Collection, 10. Italian Majolica. New York and Princeton, 1989: 60.

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: 150-152, color repro. 151.