The Continence of Scipio
Dish
ca. 1620-1635 (made)
ca. 1620-1635 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Dish of tin-glazed earthenware, painted. The central image is of a man seated on a throne flanked by two martial figures. To the right there is a bending female figure with arms crossed (in supplication?). Behind her is a man and another is moving away to the right. On a pavement in the foreground there is a seated dog (?), and a kneeling woman places an elaborate casket, the lid of which is nearby, before the feet of the seated man. The scene is painted in blue, yellow, dull green and manganese-purple and is contained within semi-circular panels in blue. The border has ogival panels in blue with Chinese Wanli-derived decoration of birds and insects on rocks. Around them are cupids, animals, birds, grotesques and floral ornaments in similar colours to those used in the central scene. No obvious stilt marks. Body colour: Reddish buff.
Glaze: White. A lead-glaze and dull grey streaks of tin-glaze over a pale slip covers the entire back. The foot-rim has been wiped virtually entirely clean of glaze.
Shape: Lipski B with straight rim and vertical foot pierced with two holes before firing. (Alphabetic shape codes as used in appendix to Archer. Delftware. 1997)
Glaze: White. A lead-glaze and dull grey streaks of tin-glaze over a pale slip covers the entire back. The foot-rim has been wiped virtually entirely clean of glaze.
Shape: Lipski B with straight rim and vertical foot pierced with two holes before firing. (Alphabetic shape codes as used in appendix to Archer. Delftware. 1997)
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | The Continence of Scipio |
Materials and techniques | Tin-glazed earthenware, painted |
Brief description | Dish of tin-glazed earthenware, painted, possibly made at Montague Close or the Pickleherring pottery, Southwark, Montague Close or Pickleherring, ca.1620-1635. |
Physical description | Dish of tin-glazed earthenware, painted. The central image is of a man seated on a throne flanked by two martial figures. To the right there is a bending female figure with arms crossed (in supplication?). Behind her is a man and another is moving away to the right. On a pavement in the foreground there is a seated dog (?), and a kneeling woman places an elaborate casket, the lid of which is nearby, before the feet of the seated man. The scene is painted in blue, yellow, dull green and manganese-purple and is contained within semi-circular panels in blue. The border has ogival panels in blue with Chinese Wanli-derived decoration of birds and insects on rocks. Around them are cupids, animals, birds, grotesques and floral ornaments in similar colours to those used in the central scene. No obvious stilt marks. Body colour: Reddish buff. Glaze: White. A lead-glaze and dull grey streaks of tin-glaze over a pale slip covers the entire back. The foot-rim has been wiped virtually entirely clean of glaze. Shape: Lipski B with straight rim and vertical foot pierced with two holes before firing. (Alphabetic shape codes as used in appendix to Archer. Delftware. 1997) |
Dimensions |
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Credit line | Presented by Art Fund |
Object history | Purchased from Mr. J. Bissley, Chiswick, by the National Art Collections Fund and given, 1914. Exhibited: Burlington Fine Arts Club, No: 11, Pl: XXV. Historical significance: The variety of unrelated types of decoration on this dish is unusual even for the relaxed standards of English pot-painters. The central scene is probably meant to show the Continence of Scipio and must derive from a Netherlandish print source. The grotesque decoration on the rim is a particularly unusual feature for English Delftware. Grotesque ornament was much used on Italian majolica, Italian potters brought this kind of decoration to the Netherlands and it was disseminated through the prints of of artists such as Cornelis Bos (ca.1510-56) and Cornelius Floris (1514-75). |
Production | Made at either the Montague Close or the Pickleherring pottery. This dish is difficult to date because it is so unusual to find such a mixture of styles in one piece. However, the decorative panels with 'birds-on-rocks' and foliage, fruit and flowers suggest a date of ca.1620 - 1630, indiacting a Southwark attribution. |
Subjects depicted | |
Bibliographic references |
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Other number | A50. - <u>Delftware</u> (1997) cat. no. |
Collection | |
Accession number | C.106-1914 |
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Record created | June 23, 1998 |
Record URL |
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