The griffins and lions decorating this pitcher attest to the popularity of Islamic designs on luxury goods made during the 1100s in southern Italy, where Byzantine, Muslim, and Western styles of art comfortably coexisted under the patronage of Norman kings.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Pitcher
Date:ca. 1100–1150
Culture:South Italian
Medium:Copper alloy, cast
Dimensions:Overall: 3 7/16 x 4 7/8 x 3 9/16 in. (8.7 x 12.4 x 9.1 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Copper alloy
Credit Line:Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
Accession Number:64.101.1406
[ Alessandro Castellani, Rome and Paris]; Dr. Albert Figdor, Vienna (until d. 1927); [his posthumous sale, Paul Cassirerat Hotel Esplanade, Berlin (Sept. 29-30, 1930, no. 462)]; Irwin Untermyer, New York (until 1964)
New York. The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Medieval Art from Private Collections," October 30, 1968–March 30, 1969.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Highlights of the Untermyer Collection of English and Continental Decorative Arts," September 29, 1977–May 21, 1978.
Bell Gallery, List Art Center, Brown University. "Survival of the Gods: Classical Mythology in Medieval Art," February 28–March 29, 1987.
New York. Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture. "Lions, Dragons, and Other Beasts: Aquamanilia of the Middle Ages. Vessels for Church and Table," July 12, 2006–October 15, 2006.
Falke, Otto von, and Max J. Friedländer, ed. Die Sammlung Dr. Albert Figdor, Wien. Vol. 5. Berlin: Paul Cassirer Verlag, 1930. no. 462, pl. CLXVII.
Hackenbroch, Yvonne. Bronzes Other Metalwork and Sculpture in the Irwin Untermyer Collection. Irwin Untermyer Collection, Vol. 5. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1962. pp. x, 5, fig. 1, pl. 1.
Gómez-Moreno, Carmen. Medieval Art from Private Collections: A Special Exhibition at The Cloisters, October 30, 1968 through January 5, 1969. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968. no. 97.
Draper, James David, ed. Highlights of the Untermyer Collection of English and continental decorative arts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977. pp. 149–50, no. 283.
Bliss, Garrett. "Griffins in Medieval Art: Survival and Adaptation." In Survival of the Gods: Classical Mythology in Medieval Art. Providence, R.I.: Brown University, 1987. p. 136.
Survival of the Gods: Classical Mythology in Medieval Art. Providence, R.I.: Brown University, 1987. no. 46, p. 161.
Barnet, Peter, and Pete Dandridge, ed. Lions, Dragons, & Other Beasts: Aquamanilia of the Middle Ages, Vessels for Church and Table. New York: Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, 2006. no. 45, p. 185.
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