Dish thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Dish

early 16th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In Venice the production of brass dishes and vessels flourished in the first half of the 16th century. They were very elaborately decorated but not with traditional European linear ornamentation. Venice, during this period, traded and fought extensively with the Turkish and Arab empires which bordered the Mediterranean basin. Thus Venetian merchants brought back to the city Near Eastern craftsmen and goods that had an immediate influence on the indigenous population, and eventually the rest of Europe.

Unlike their northern European counterparts, the Venetian Muslim community produced many splendid damascened (engraved and inlaid with silver wire) brass vessels. The decoration was more extensive, often covering the entire surface of an object, as in the strapwork on this example. The arabesque pattern, base on a stylised plant with a winding stem, was studied and copied by contemporary Italian artists. By the middle of the 16th century, the arabesque as a form of ornament was beginning to influence craftsmen all over Europe, and became incorporated into the development of European ornamental design, until the decline of the Rococo in the late 18th century.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Brass, engraved and originally damascened with silver
Brief description
Brass dish covered with strapwork and arabesques, with an interlaced border, Veneto-Saracenic, early 16th century
Physical description
The front of the dish is completely covered with strapwork and arabesques within an interlaced border.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 18in
Content description
One of a group of basins, dishes and bowls known by collectors as Nuremberg Brass Basins, even though many were made elsewhere.
Style
Credit line
Bequeathed by Francis William Smith
Subjects depicted
Summary
In Venice the production of brass dishes and vessels flourished in the first half of the 16th century. They were very elaborately decorated but not with traditional European linear ornamentation. Venice, during this period, traded and fought extensively with the Turkish and Arab empires which bordered the Mediterranean basin. Thus Venetian merchants brought back to the city Near Eastern craftsmen and goods that had an immediate influence on the indigenous population, and eventually the rest of Europe.

Unlike their northern European counterparts, the Venetian Muslim community produced many splendid damascened (engraved and inlaid with silver wire) brass vessels. The decoration was more extensive, often covering the entire surface of an object, as in the strapwork on this example. The arabesque pattern, base on a stylised plant with a winding stem, was studied and copied by contemporary Italian artists. By the middle of the 16th century, the arabesque as a form of ornament was beginning to influence craftsmen all over Europe, and became incorporated into the development of European ornamental design, until the decline of the Rococo in the late 18th century.
Bibliographic reference
Sylvia Auld, Renaissance Venice, Islam and Mahmud the Kurd. A metalworking enigma, 2004, no.5.26, p.234.
Collection
Accession number
M.463-1922

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Record createdFebruary 20, 2004
Record URL
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