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Pottery:
Unknown
(Possibly)
Potter:
Unknown
(Possibly)
Maiolica cistern, painted in blue, with bands of hares, lambs, unicorns, horses and foxes, mostly in pairs, amid flowering plants, bands with foliage and flowers on scrolling stems, with birds and animals in the spaces, and rib and neck decoration of leaves, fleur-de-lis, and fruiting vine branch.
Earthenware, tin-glazed on the exterior and lead-glazed brownish-yellow on the interior. Painted in blue with traces of blackish-brown enamel and a little gilding on the rosette surrounding the spigot.
Ovoid with a short narrow neck and everted and stepped rim. Just above the base is a convex horizontal rib, over which at centre front is an applied rosette with a central aperture for the insertion of a gilt-metal spigot, in the shape of a monster's head with a dolphin tap. Further up is another convex horizontal rib with a grotesque mask in relief at centre front and, on opposing sides, projecting shell-shaped handles.
The decoration is divided into five horizontal bands of different widths. The first, fourth and fifth bands from the bottom are painted with hares, lambs, unicorns, horses and foxes, mostly in pairs, amid flowering plants. The second and third are painted with foliage and flowers on scrolling stems, with birds and animals in the spaces. The lower of the two ribs is decorated with formal leaves with remnants of outlining in blackish-brown. The upper rib is decorated with alternating fleur-de-lis and sprays of leaves, similarly outlined. The neck is encircled by a fruiting vine branch with a formal border and two plain bands above.
History note: Private collection, Munich; on death of the owner, sold by legatee to Adolf Steinharter, 25 Residenz-strasse, Munich, from whom purchased on 15 August 1905 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher
Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest
Height: 59.5 cm
Width: 49.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
17th Century#
1630
CE
-
1680
CE
This cistern has usually been attributed to a Ligurian pottery in Albisola or Savona, but in 2004 Guido Farris considered that it probably came from Turin.
Decoration
composed of
enamel
( blackish-brown)
high-temperature colour
( blue)
gold
Interior
composed of
lead-glaze
Exterior
composed of
tin-glaze
Rim
Diameter 20.3 cm
Base
Diameter 20.5 cm
Accession number: C.2215-1928
Primary reference Number: 73239
Old object number: 2370
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Cistern" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/73239 Accessed: 2024-11-16 10:56:22
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/73239
|title=Cistern
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-16 10:56:22|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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-73239
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/aa14/C_2215_1928_281_29.jpg"
alt="Cistern"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Cistern</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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