Sammlung Majolika

Pair of large, rare, maiolica bowls,
probably from the Patanazzi workshop
Height: 22.3 cm.
Width: 50 cm.
Depth: 46.5 cm.
Urbino, 16th century.
The tall foot formed by three lion's paws and volu -
tes holds the deep trefoil bowl with slightly flanged
lip. In between the trefoil leaves, sculpted satyr
heads and foliage masks form handles. One bowl
depicts a fisherman by a river with a reclining river
god centred in the front, accompanied by two
lions. The river is enclosed by city walls and can
be seen flowing off into the background over a
dam wall. The other bowl depicts Moses, striking
water from a rock. Moses takes a step towards
the rock and strikes it with a long staff. Two men
in antique garments stand by his side, one of them,
according to legend, possible being Aaron. At
either side of the spring groups of figures collect
water in bowls or drink directly from the spring.
On the right, two camels are being watered. In
front, a mother kneeling besides her small son is
instructing him to drink from a bowl. The sky is
painted with bands of clouds, revealing God giving
instructions to Moses. In the middle- and back -
ground of the painting there is a camp where
Moses' people are staying with a backdrop of a
mountainous landscape with trees. The exterior of
the bowl is decorated with city- and seascapes.
Painted in blue, yellow, ochre, manganese, green,
brown, black and white. Glaze chips along the
rims. Restored cracks.
Notes I:
The literary source for the depiction of Moses
striking water from a rock can be found in the Old
Testament, Book IV, Moses 20.
Notes II:
The depiction of the fisherman with the river god
is a combination of two engravings by Philips Galle
from 1578, which are located in the Rijksprenten -
kabinet, Amsterdam. One of the engravings was
copied in its entirety whilst only two figures have
been borrowed from the other in order to adjust
the scene to the different picture format.
A very similar drinking bowl from Venice from the
first half of the 17th century also displays a fisher -
man after an engraving by Galle and is located in
Sèvres, see Jeanne Giacomotti, Catalogue des
majoliques des musées nationaux, Paris, 1974,
pp. 449ff., plate 1336.
Notes III:
Bowls of this shape can also be found in the
National Museum of Florence. They originate from
a large table service, which was manufactured for
the Duke of Urbino. Two further bowls can be
found in the Museo Civico in Bologna as well as
in the Wallace Collection in London. Another two
are located in the Princeton University Collection
and further examples at the Fitzwilliam Museum
in Cambridge.
Literature:
For a similarly shaped bowl, probably from the
Fontana manufacture in Urbino circa 1579, see
Jeanne Giacomotti, Catalogue des majoliques des
musées nationaux, Paris, 1974, p. 339, plates 1034,
1035.
For a large, round basin from the Patanazzi workshop,
which depicts the same Moses scene in a
similar style, located at the Museo Civico in Pesa ro,
see exhibition catalogue, Maioliche del Museo
Civico di Pesaro, Pesaro, 1979, no. 2.
Among other details, the rendition of the head of
the stooping man who is drinking straight from
the river, shows strong parallels. The exterior of a
large wine cooler from the workshop of Frances co
Durantino at the Victoria & Albert Museum featu res
a closely related illustration of Moses, striking
water from a rock, see Elisa P. Sani, Italian Renai -
ssance Maiolica, V&A, London, 2012, p. 105. It
apears that the present bowl and the wine cooler
were modelled on the same engraving.
€ 500.000 - € 700.000
52
For around 6,000 additional detailed images: www.hampel-auction.com