Inkstand of red earthenware covered with a white slip with incised decoration and painted in green and brownish-yellow under a clear glaze. Italian, Bologna or Ferrara, about 1480 to 1500.

Inkstand of red earthenware covered with a white slip with incised decoration and painted in green and brownish-yellow under a clear glaze. Modelled in the form of a group of figures holding shields with the arms of Bentivoglio of Bologna, Rangoni of Modena, and another. Two maidens and two youths with long hair and in costume of the period are sitting on the four sides of a square pedestal supported on four round feet. They support on their shoulders a bell-shaped ink receptacle with a removable lid at the back. A third maiden, similarly attired, sits at the summit. The latter and two of the lower figures support shields respectively charged:
Bentivoglio impaling Rangoni with the Rangoni achievement alone and with a bend between two mullets. Another shield with the Rangoni arms appears on the corner of the pedestal. One of the remaining figures holds a globe in her lap. The receptacle and the sides and toip of the plinth are further decorated with foliated ornament or floral sprays.

Bequeathed by George Salting, Esq.

W.B. Honey, former Keeper of Ceramics, makes reference to more than one of these inkstands which he believes all date from late 15th century. He assumes they were commissioned by Giovanni Bentivoglio from a local Bologna pottery. Honey also assumes that no more of these inkstands with the Bentivoglio and Rangoni arms were made after Giovanni was expelled from Bologna in 1506 by Pope Julius II.

Wasters have been found in the ramparts of Bologna which also beat the arms of Bentivoglio. Giovanni Bentivoglio was expelled from Bologna in 1506 and died two years later.

Nepoti in the Faenza catalogue lists many fragments with the arms of Bentivoglio, the arms of Rangoni and the two arms impaled. He says that ceramics with this type of 'bentivolesco' arms are common in the kiln waste discovered in Bologna. However, they are also found in Ferrara (without saying if they were found on kiln sites). He also says that dishes with the Bentivoligo arms were also produced after his exile from Bologna in 1506.
Nepoti states that the arms with the scallop shell in chief are 'generally' attributed to Rangoni of Modena. These arma are found on many ceramics in Ferrara collections but are also found in Bologna.

(1474) Marriage of Count Guido Pepoli and Bernardina Rangoni.
(1443) Birth of Giovanni II Bentivoglio
(1463-1506) Giovanni II in control of Bologna
(1464) Giovanni II marries Ginevra Sforza
they have 11 surviving children
(1487) Son Annibale II (1469-1541) marries a d'Este of Ferrara
(1488) Daughter Francesca arranges the murder of her husband, Manfredi of Faenza
(1505) Death of Count Guido Pepoli.
(1506) Giovanni Bentivoglio expelled from Bologna by Pope Julius II.
(1508) Death of Giovanni Bentivoglio.

Arms of Bentivoglio of Bologna (per bend indented) impaled with Rangoni
Arms of Rangoni of Modena: Barry on a chief an escallop
Unidentified arms: a bend between two mullets
The arms of Bentivoglio also appear on a fragment of the middle of a dish in the V&A collection (C.149-1920).
Similiar to 2611-1856 and attributed to the same modeller and workshop by Bernard Rackham (also to one in the Schlossmuseum, Berlin -Falke, Majolika, p.98).
Rackham believes it was probably made for Constanzo, son of Annibale Bentivoglio, and his wife Elena Rangoni. Elena's mother was a Sanvitale. The Rangoni arms are in the form usual before the addition, in 1511, of a second chief. The unidentified coat may have some reference to that of Sanvitale which, however, shows a bend gules on an argent field without the mullets.

This inkstand is extremely well-modelled and is a fine example of ceramic sculpture. The figures were modelled by hand separately and then attached to the basic structure of the inkstand. The whole is incised to show details in the hair and costume of the figures as well as stylised foliage on the base and upper structure. There are two similar candlesticks, another in the Victoria & Albert Museum and one in the Kuntsgewerbemuseum in Berlin. It is believed that all three were made in the same pottery workshop in either Bologna or Ferrara.

On the base and held by one of the female figures, are generally held to be the arms of the Rangoni family of Modena (Barry on a chief an escallop). Another female figure sitting on the base holds a shield with an unidentified coat of arms. The female figure seated on the top of the candlestick bears a shield with the impaled arms of Bentivoglio of Bologna (per bend indented) and Rangoni. It is believed that the candlestick was commissioned to commemorate a marriage between the two families.

C.2281-1910