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Dish
unknown - Enlarge image
Dish
- Place of origin:
Venice, Italy (made)
- Date:
ca. 1550 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Brass, engraved
- Credit Line:
Given by Dr W. L. Hildburgh FSA
- Museum number:
M.42-1946
- Gallery location:
In store
This brass dish was a luxury display piece intended to proclaim its owner’s status. The decoration is typical of that seen on brass wares made in Venice in the period 1500-1550. Both the technique and motifs were influenced by the objects brought back to the city by Venetian merchants trading with the Turkish and Arab empires that bordered the Mediterranean basin.
The local craftsmen adopted the deep, bold engraving seen on the Islamic models but only very occasionally used the silver inlay that was a speciality of the Saracen artists. They also incorporated more pictorial imagery into the decoration. Here the maker has combined the Islamic arabesque with characters and gods from Roman mythology that were used in the European late Renaissance style.
