Plateau thumbnail 1
Plateau thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 139, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Plateau

ca. 1870 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In the middle and later 19th century, Italian potteries looked to their illustrious past for inspiration, particularly to the renaissance, as did potteries in other countries. During the 1870s the Museum acquired a group of such ceramics to represent the skills of relatively less well-known factories in Italy in centres like Cortona, Gubbio and Florence. Such potteries made close imitations very much in the same spirit as the 15th and 16th century originals which were their inspiration. It was often described as 'old maiolica ware'. The fashion for this type of 'historicism' was widespread across western Europe and in Britain.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Earthenware, painted, glazed
Brief description
Plateau, glazed earthenware with painted decoration, possibly Cortona, Italy, ca. 1870
Physical description
Plateau of glazed earthenware, painted with the portrait of a man in a cap, a loose copy of a portrait by Albrecht Durer, the rim with 8 initials in decorative monograms, unidentified.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 40cm
Marks and inscriptions
unmarked
Object history
Bought from the art dealer William Campbell Spence, Florence in 1877. William Campbell Spence (1849-1927 living at 6, Via Micheli, Florence, Italy) was the son of William Blundell Spence (1814-1900) a painter, art collector and dealer.
Subject depicted
Summary
In the middle and later 19th century, Italian potteries looked to their illustrious past for inspiration, particularly to the renaissance, as did potteries in other countries. During the 1870s the Museum acquired a group of such ceramics to represent the skills of relatively less well-known factories in Italy in centres like Cortona, Gubbio and Florence. Such potteries made close imitations very much in the same spirit as the 15th and 16th century originals which were their inspiration. It was often described as 'old maiolica ware'. The fashion for this type of 'historicism' was widespread across western Europe and in Britain.
Collection
Accession number
697-1877

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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