Skip to main content

Dish emblematic of Fecundity: C.1409-1928

An image of Dish
View image details

Terms of use

The low-resolution images published on this Website are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY-NC-ND). For more details: Fitzwilliam Terms of Use

This licence does not include any images of works that are still in copyright. Artistic copyright extends from the life of the artist to 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the artist died.

Download this image

For further information on use of images or to license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who can discuss terms and fees.

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Dish emblematic of Fecundity

Maker(s)

Pottery: Unidentified Southwark Pottery

Entities

  • Dish
  • oval dish
  • La Fécondité dish

Categories

Description

Tin-glazed and painted earthenware decorated with a reclining nude woman and five children emblematic of fecundity

Buff earthenware, press-moulded, tin-glazed, and painted in blue, green, yellow, and orange. Oval, with wide rim, and curved well. The rim is moulded in relief with alternately oval and circular depressions, separated by human masks, and vases of fruit and foliage, and the well with a reclining nude woman and five nude children, one of whom holds a dog. Behind the woman there is a green curtain and further to the left part of a building

Notes

History note: Probably bought at Christie's by Mr Stoner, London, from whom purchased for £25 in July 1907 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 6.5 cm
Length: 50.5 cm
Width: 40.2 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

17th Century, Mid
Charles I
Circa 1635 CE - 1640 CE

Note

After a French lead-glazed earthenware dish, of a type traditionally attributed to Bernard Palissy (d. 1590), but probably made by his successors Jean Chipault (d. 1599) or Claude Berthémy at Avon near Fontainebleau.

The Pickleherring, and Montague Close potteries were operating when the earliest dated dish of this design was made, and by about 1636 the Rotherhithe pottery was also operating.

School or Style

Mannerist

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of high-temperature colours ( blue, green, yellow, and orange)
Front

Materials used in production

buff Earthenware
white Tin-glaze

Techniques used in production

Press-moulding : Buff earthenware, press-moulded, tin-glazed, and painted in blue, green, yellow, and orange high temperature colours; the glaze is uneven and lumpy on the reverse
Tin-glazing

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.1409-1928
Primary reference Number: 71941
Old object number: 2700

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 30 April 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Dish emblematic of Fecundity" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/71941 Accessed: 2025-12-05 11:29:05

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/71941 |title=Dish emblematic of Fecundity |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 11:29:05|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-71941

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa27/C_1409_1928.jpg"
        alt="Dish emblematic of Fecundity"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Dish emblematic of Fecundity</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...

University of Cambridge Museums logo
Cambridge City Council logo
Arts Council England Logo
Research England logo