Not currently on display at the V&A

A Bacchant and a sleeping man

Plaquette
ca. 1500 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This plaquette depicitng an allegorical scene is made by the so called Master IO.F.F., who was a plaquette maker active around 1500.
Plaquettes are small plaques or reliefs made of bronze, brass, lead or precious metals. They originated in the 1440ies with the desire to reproduce coins and hardstone engravings from ancient Greece and Rome. Some were made as collector's pieces, to be viewed and displayed in private, and others for practical purposes. They also inspired designs in other media, from architecture to bookbindings.
Whilst religious plaquettes had both public and private functions, and mounted religious plaquettes, known as paxes, were held up during mass for the kiss of peace, those with a secular subject matter were usually for private, personal use. They were used as pendants, desk ornaments, and applied to functional objects such as pounce-pots. They were also valued as fine miniature works of art. Plaquettes had a role in disseminating classical imagery and designs throughout Europe, in the same manner as the contemporary print. The subject matter was often a miniature composition, only rarely a single isolated figure.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • A Bacchant and a sleeping man (generic title)
  • Allegorical Scene (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Brief description
Plaquette, bronze, an allegorical scene, by the Master IO.F.F., Italy, ca. 1500
Physical description
A young man, naked,except for a short mantle, seated on a lion's skin against a tree trunk asleep. A naked man approaches him, carrying an ox-hide and a boar's head bound on a lance. Behind him a statue on a pedestal, a naked youth holding out a bird and carrying a torch.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 3.5cm
Object history
From the Salting bequest.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This plaquette depicitng an allegorical scene is made by the so called Master IO.F.F., who was a plaquette maker active around 1500.
Plaquettes are small plaques or reliefs made of bronze, brass, lead or precious metals. They originated in the 1440ies with the desire to reproduce coins and hardstone engravings from ancient Greece and Rome. Some were made as collector's pieces, to be viewed and displayed in private, and others for practical purposes. They also inspired designs in other media, from architecture to bookbindings.
Whilst religious plaquettes had both public and private functions, and mounted religious plaquettes, known as paxes, were held up during mass for the kiss of peace, those with a secular subject matter were usually for private, personal use. They were used as pendants, desk ornaments, and applied to functional objects such as pounce-pots. They were also valued as fine miniature works of art. Plaquettes had a role in disseminating classical imagery and designs throughout Europe, in the same manner as the contemporary print. The subject matter was often a miniature composition, only rarely a single isolated figure.
Bibliographic references
  • 'Salting Bequest (A. 70 to A. 1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A. 1030 to A. 1096-1910)'. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture). London: Printed under the Authority of his Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, East Harding Street, EC, p. 74
  • Maclagan, Eric. Catalogue of Italian Plaquettes . London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1924, p. 52
  • Fulton, Christopher, B. "The Master IO.F.F. and the Function of Plaquettes". In: Studies in the History of Art, Italian Plaquettes, Vol. 22, 1985, pp. 143-162.
Collection
Accession number
A.467-1910

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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