CIRCA 1540, PERHAPS WORKSHOP OF MAESTRO LODOVICO

The border of alla porcellana ornament to the reverse of this dish is typical of that seen on Venice maiolica of the mid-16th century. This tondino forms part of a group of dishes decorated with trophies and musical instruments on a berettino ground, which have in the past been attributed to the workshop of Maestro Lodovico in the Contrado of Santo Polo in Venice, based on somewhat tenuous stylistic similarities to a large dish (museum no. 4438-1858) in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which is marked for that workshop. For another tondino from the group and further discussion of the type and their attribution see Timothy Wilson, Italian Maiolica of the Renaissance, Milan, 1996, pp. 422-23, no. 163. Another similar example is illustrated by Angelica Alvera' Bortolotto, Maiolica a Venezia nel Rinascimento, Bergamo, 1988, p. 43, no. 1 and a tondino of the same type bearing the inscription R.E.P.V.E.N. (for the Republic of Venice) was sold at Sotheby's, New York, 27 January 2011, lot 429.