Le maioliche rinascimentali nelle collezioni della ... - Claudio Paolinelli

138 Plate with a putto and trofei decoration.
Castel Durante or Pesaro, c1540.
In the well is a putto walking to the right and looking over his
shoulder; he holds a branch of oak leaves, probably a reference
to the Dukes of Urbino (see no. 139). On the rim are trophies
of arms and musical intruments, in yellow and brown tones on
a dark blue ground, which is also decorated with small scrolls
scratched through the blue to the white beneath. The colours
are blue, yellow, green, brown, and white. The edge is painted
yellow.
This type of object has been generally attributed to Castel
Durante 1 , but it remains difficult to distinguish definitely the
products of the various centres in the Duchy of Urbino 2 , where,
as indicated by Piccolpasso 3 , trofei decoration was widely used.
It is also the case that potters from Castel Durante moved to
other nearby places 4 , including other parts of the territory of
the Dukes, like Pesaro, where they became part of the local
ceramic tradition 5 . In Pesaro, numerous finds in the city centre,
especially when compared with the infrequency of such
finds at Castel Durante 6 , demonstrate that there was local production
of high quality, as had previously been implied both
by archival material 7 and by the historiographic tradition 8 .
Recent studies on Pesaro maiolica have shown, following Berardi
9 , how one can distinguish various versions of trofei on the
basis of the tones of colour used; one type is the version in
yellowish half-tones 10 , a category to which this plate belongs.
Nonetheless, although some fragments from Pesaro 11 show similarities
in colouring with the present plate, more widespread
is a later production, from the second half of the sixteenth
century, with more pinkish tonality and more rapidly executed
drawing. Plates decorated with central figures of boys and rims
with trofei are not uncommon 12 and they were probably made
430
throughout the Duchy of Urbino; but it is difficult to find
exact parallels to this plate, with its careful drawing and an
unusual detailed calligraphic quality in the decoration.
The putto in the centre, standing out against a yellow background
and flanked by large rounded bluish-toned rocks, has
some distinctive features. It is a graceful figure, rendered elegant
by the ribbon which passes under his right arm and flutters
over his shoulders; some anatomical details are lightly
highlighted in white. The plate is similar to one in the Victoria
& Albert Museum, London, which is the same size and is
attributed to Castel Durante 13 . The two plates seem to be by
the same painter and were probably made before the middle
of the sixteenth century 14 . [CP]
Plate (tondino) with deep well. Tin-glazed front and back.
Chips to the edge and glaze losses in the well.
Provenance: Jacob, 16 th Baron Hastings (by 1857); by descent to the 20 th
Baron Hastings; Hastings sale 1888, lot 32; probably Alfred Spero,
London; his widow, Winifred Spero (by whom lent to Norwich Castle
Museum); Bonham’s, London, 24 May 2000, lot 98; Fabrizio Frizzi
Baccioni.
A red circular printed label: ART TREASURES EXHIBITION MUSE-
UM LORD HASTINGS, with 160 in ink, referring to the Art Treasures
exhibition held at Manchester in 1857.
Bibliography: Fiocco and Gherardi in Dal Poggetto 2004, no. XII.9.