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Two-handled bowl: C.151-1991

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Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Pottery: Unidentified Orvieto pottery (Probably)

Entities

Categories

Description

Renaissance maiolica two-handled bowl, painted in polychrome with a cross with trefoil leaves between the arms, surrounded by concentric circles.

Cream earthenware, tin-glazed cream on both sides; base unglazed. Painted in blue, green, yellow, and orange.
Shape 45. Circular with curved sides and two small loop handles, standing on a solid foot.
In the middle is a yellow cross with two orange and two blue trefoil leaves between the arms, surrounded by concentric circles: three narrow blue, a green, an orange and five blue. The outside of the rim is decorated with six blue half-palmettes or leaves.

Notes

History note: Purportedly excavated in Orvieto. Purchased from Kerin, London, on 9 December 1933 by H.S. Reitlinger (d.1950); the Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead, from which transferred in 1991

Legal notes

H.S. Reitlinger Bequest, 1950; transferred from the Reitlinger Trust, 1991

Measurements and weight

Height: 5.2 cm
Width: 13.6 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Orvieto ⪼ Umbria ⪼ Italy

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1991-04-29) by Reitlinger, Henry Scipio

Dating

15th Century#
16th Century, Early#
Renaissance
Circa 1475 CE - 1510 CE

Note

.This bowl was almost certainly among the '27 glazed 15th cent. plates & bowls, said to have been excavated at Orvieto' which H.S. Reitlinger purchased in 1933, some of which can be identified with lots in the Marcioni-Lucatelli sale at Sotheby's on 17 February 1914. The bowl is therefore likely to have been made in Orvieto, although it is possible that one or other of the collectors acquired it elsewhere.

During the second half of the 15th century simply decorated two-handled bowls were made in immense quantities in central Italy, judging by the numbers extant. They are usually decorated in two or three colours with a central medallion containing a stylized plant motif, grid or spots, surrounded by concentric circles, and may have horizontal bands or fan-like palmettes or half-palmettes on the exterior. Large quantities of them have been recovered from butti (rubbish pits) in Orvieto and from a kiln site adjacent to the Pozzo della Cava in via della Cava.

School or Style

Renaissance

Components of the work

Decoration composed of high-temperature colours ( blue, green, yellow, and orange)
Rim Diameter 10.5 cm
Bowl

Materials used in production

base unglazed Tin-glaze
Earthenware

Techniques used in production

Tin-glazing

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: circular white paper stick-on label with serrated edge

  • Text: 377/a
  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Hand-written in indelible pencil
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.151-1991
Primary reference Number: 72120
Packing number: EURCER 443
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Friday 15 December 2023 Last processed: Friday 15 December 2023

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 (2024) "Two-handled bowl" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/72120 Accessed: 2024-11-21 19:33:16

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/72120 |title=Two-handled bowl |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-21 19:33:16|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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