Dish with deep centre, made in Venice, about 1500-30, painted enamels and gilding on copper.

Dish with deep centre. White edge, wide blue rim with gilded arabesques, deep bowl, gilded scrolls on a white ground, dots in several colours near the rim. The central boss is dark green with a gilded rose. The reverse is blue with gilded stars and lines, the domed base is white.

This dish was shown at the Manchester Fine Art Exhibition of 1857 and at the 'Special Exhibition of Works of Art...' at the South Kensington Museum (now V&A) in June 1862, lent by M. Rohde Hawkins, Esq. The Museum subsequently bought it at the Major Rohde Hawkins sale at Christie's, London, Tuesday 9th June 1891, lot 210, (Lugt reference number 50064) for £65: 'A circular dish of Venetian enamel, with deep centre, green, white and gold, and broad border with ornaments and colours and gold, on dark blue ground, and white and gold edge, the back enamelled dark-blue, with stars and ornament in gold. 10½ in. diam. 16th century work'. Major Rohde Hawkins (1820-84 according to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) was an architect and antiquary. Major and Rohde were his given names. He did not hold army rank and his mother's maiden name was Rohde not Rhode.

The technique of painting in enamels on copper was developed during the 15th century, and by the end of the century, Venice had developed its own characteristic style. Vessels were made of thin copper (1-2 mm), usually of a lobed or gadrooned form, and coated with a layer of milky white enamel. The intense, almost translucent colours applied over this ground included dark blue, emerald green and deep red, with some areas left white for contrast. Finally, the surface was decorated with dense patterns of tiny gold stars, commas, flowers, and leafy scrolls.

Venetian enamel-workers may have been influenced by lustre ceramics from Valencia, which were imported to Italy in large quantities between the 14th and 16th centuries. These Spanish wares made use of dense, geometric and foliate patterns, shimmering in lustre on a white ground. They also imitated metalwork effects such as gadrooning, so their decorative motifs could be adapted relatively directly for use on metal dishes such as this. Similar ribbed and gadrooned forms were also employed in Murano cups of the period, made from enamelled white glass, which could also have been an influence on Venetian enamel-workers. The fluting of the glass was derived from Byzantine models, and ultimately from Near Eastern mould-blown glass. The use of continuous patterns of gold scrollwork to cover all surfaces of the object may also have come from Middle Eastern design. Venice had close connections with the Islamic world in the Renaissance, and inlaid metalwork covered in foliate arabesque patterns was imported to the city from the Middle East.

Comparative pieces in other Collections include dishes in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig, inv. lim 2; the Musee du Louvre, Paris; the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, inv. F1545; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, inv. 51.4; and a dish from the Adriano Ribolzi Collection was sold at Sotheby’s, 30th November 2011.

This type of ornamental enamel-work was fashionable in Venice during the late 15th and 16th century and was applied to vessels intended for both secular and liturgical use. This dish may have been a part of a set used by the Italian nobility for formal dining. A banquet would have been conceived as a spectacle. The most splendid tableware was displayed on tiered sideboards or ‘credenze’ against the walls of the room. Because of its material and decoration, it is unlikely to have been used. Rather it was reserved for displaying the wealth of its owner and honouring guests.

274-1891