Not currently on display at the V&A

basket of fruit, flowers and vegetables,

Relief
early 16th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is a relief made by the workshop of Giovanni della Robbia in the early 16th century Florence, Italy. This relief is in polychrome enamelled terracotta and representing a basket of fruit, flowers and vegetables.
The Della Robbia family was an Italian family of sculptors and potters. They were active in Florence from the early 15th century and elsewhere in Italy and France well into the 16th. Family members were traditionally employed in the textile industry, and their name derives from rubia tinctorum, a red dye.
Luca della Robbia founded the family sculpture workshop in Florence and was regarded by contemporaries as a leading artistic innovator, comparable to Donatello and Masaccio. The influence of antique art and his characteristic liveliness and charm are evident in such works as the marble singing-gallery for Florence Cathedral. He is credited with the invention of the tin-glazed terracotta sculpture for which the family became well known.

Giovanni della Robbia (1469 - ca. 1529) was one of three of the sons of Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) to enter his father's workshop. He received his own commissions from 1497 and increasingly took over the running of the workshop. He was heir to the famous workshop in Florence and had the task of renewing its famous production to accord with changing tastes as directed by contemporary painting.


Object details

Category
Object type
Titlebasket of fruit, flowers and vegetables, (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Polychrome enamelled terracotta
Brief description
Relief, polychrome enamelled terracotta, basket of fruit, flowers and vegetables, workshop of Giovanni della Robbia, Italy (Florence), early 16th century
Physical description
Relief of basket of fruit, flowers and vegetables.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 21.6cm
Object history
Purchased in London from Mrs. Hugo in 1877.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is a relief made by the workshop of Giovanni della Robbia in the early 16th century Florence, Italy. This relief is in polychrome enamelled terracotta and representing a basket of fruit, flowers and vegetables.
The Della Robbia family was an Italian family of sculptors and potters. They were active in Florence from the early 15th century and elsewhere in Italy and France well into the 16th. Family members were traditionally employed in the textile industry, and their name derives from rubia tinctorum, a red dye.
Luca della Robbia founded the family sculpture workshop in Florence and was regarded by contemporaries as a leading artistic innovator, comparable to Donatello and Masaccio. The influence of antique art and his characteristic liveliness and charm are evident in such works as the marble singing-gallery for Florence Cathedral. He is credited with the invention of the tin-glazed terracotta sculpture for which the family became well known.

Giovanni della Robbia (1469 - ca. 1529) was one of three of the sons of Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) to enter his father's workshop. He received his own commissions from 1497 and increasingly took over the running of the workshop. He was heir to the famous workshop in Florence and had the task of renewing its famous production to accord with changing tastes as directed by contemporary painting.
Bibliographic references
  • List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington, Acquired During the Year 1877, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., p. 63
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: HMSO, 1964, cat. no. 245, fig. 253
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. London, 1932, p. 86
Collection
Accession number
749-1877

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Record createdSeptember 26, 2008
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