With shimmering copper tones, often combined with cobalt blue, lusterware from Valencia depends on Islamic tradition, both in technique and in decoration. Here, the central motif is a palm tree surrounded by bands with a repeating al-afiya motif—a stylized shorthand of the Arabic word for "health" and "happiness." Valencian ceramics with these designs have been excavated in Egypt and must have been shipped from Spain to Muslim clients there, but luxurious plates like this were also highly prized in European royal and noble households. This bowl, probably a remnant of a larger table service, was made for export to the Dazzi family of Florence, whose arms it bears on the reverse.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Deep Dish
Date:ca. 1430
Geography:Made in probably Manises, Valencia, Spain
Culture:Spanish
Medium:Tin-glazed earthenware
Dimensions:Overall: 2 3/8 x 17 3/4 in. (6 x 45.1 cm)
Classification:Ceramics
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1956
Object Number:56.171.162
[ Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., Inc., Paris and New York (sold 1915)] ; William Randolph Hearst American, 1863–1951, New York and San Simeon (1915-1951) ; William Randolph Hearst Foundation, New York (1951–1956)
Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, SUNY Binghamton. "Islam and the Medieval West," April 6–May 4, 1975.
Los Angeles. J. Paul Getty Museum. "The Arts of Fire: Islamic Influences on the Italian Renaissance," May 4, 2004–September 5, 2004.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Hearst, the Collector," November 16, 2008–March 1, 2009.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "'Additions to the Collections,' Eighty-Seventh Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year 1956-1957." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 16, no. 2 (October 1957). p. 65.
Randall, Richard Jr. "Lusterware of Spain." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 15, no. 10 (June 1957). p. 216.
Husband, Timothy B. "Valencian Lusterware of the Fifteenth Century: An Exhibition at the Cloisters." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 29, no. 1 (Summer 1970). p. 22, fig. 3.
Ferber, Stanley, ed. Islam and the Medieval West. Binghamton: University Art Gallery, State University of New York at Binghamton, 1975. no. 84.
Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn, Suzanne G. Valenstein, and Julia Meech-Pekarik. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art." In Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. vol. 12. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1977. no. 265, pl. 265 (b/w), interior and profile.
Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn. "Islamic Pottery: A Brief History." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 40, no. 4 (Spring 1983). p. 38, fig. 44.
Welch, Stuart Cary. The Islamic World. Metropolitan Museum of Art series, Vol. 11. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. pp. 64–65, fig. 46.
Caliphs and Kings: The Art and Influence of Islamic Spain. Selections from the selections from the Hispanic Society of America, New York. Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 2004. p. 152, fig. 7, (acc. no. misidentified as 56.171.152).
Spallanzani, Marco. Maioliche ispano-moresche a Firenze nel Rinascimento. Florence: Edizioni S.P.E.S., 2006. p. 238, fig. 2.
Dectot, Xavier. Céramiques hispaniques (XIIe-XVIIIe siècle). Paris: Musée National du Moyen Âge - Thermes et Hôtel de Cluny, 2007. pp. 35–37.
Levkoff, Mary L., ed. Hearst, the Collector. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2008. no. 72, p. 198.
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