1562, SFORZA DI MARCANTONIO

Details

A PESARO CIRCULAR DATED ARMORIAL ISTORIATO SHALLOW DISH
1562, SFORZA DI MARCANTONIO
Painted with a leaping figure, the barrel tied around his right wrist emblematic of the weight of poverty, his winged left arm reaching up towards a cloud emblematic of soaring intelligence, a coat of arms to his left within a strapwork escutcheon, before buildings and rockwork in mountainous landscape, the reverse inscribed in blue ·A· La Pouerta in Pedisce i · Sommi in Gegni .S· .62·, within a vitruvian scroll border (section broken from 12 - 3 o'clock, associated restoration and lacquering, restoration to rim at 4 and 8 o'clock, slight chipping and flaking to rims)
8 1/8 in. (20.3 cm) diam.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The 'S' on the reverse of this dish is a signature for a painter thought to be Sforza di Marcantonio. The script on the reverse on the dish and the style of the painting on the obverse both correspond closely with other pieces thought to be by him. A group of pieces by this painter in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Brunswick, are illustrated by Johanna Lessmann, Italienische Majolika (Brunswick, 1979), pp. 345-351. Before his arrival at Pesaro (by 1548), Sforza di Marcantonio worked at Urbino in collaboration with Xanto. For a discussion of their working realtionship, see John Mallet, Xanto, Pottery-painter, Poet, Man of the Renaissance Wallace Collection, London, Exhibition Catalogue (London, 2007), pp. 36 and 41-42.

The underside of this dish is illustrated at the end of the catalogue.

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