This jar, made early in the fifteenth century, includes bold relief ornament of pine cones or grapes and impressive lion masks. It may have been made near Florence, or further south near the towns of Viterbo or Orvieto.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Two-Handled Jar with Lions' Heads
Date:early 15th century
Geography:Made in Florence, Italy
Culture:Italian
Medium:Tin-glazed earthenware
Dimensions:Overall: 9 7/16 x 12 11/16 x 11 1/4 in. (24 x 32.3 x 28.5 cm)
Classification:Ceramics
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1937
Object Number:37.184
Stefano Bardini (Italian), Florence (sold 5, June 1899); Wilhelm von Bode, Berlin (at least by 1905); Kurt Glogowski, Berlin (sold 1932)
Bode, Wilhelm von. "Altflorentiner Majoliken." Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 19 (1898). p. 213, ill.
Catalogue des Objets d'Art Antiques, du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance Provenant de la Collection Bardini de Florence. London: Christie's, London, June 5–7, 1899. no. 121, p. 21.
Catalogue of a choice collection of pictures, antiquities, works of art of the Middle Ages and Renaissance from the collection of Signor Stephano Bardini of Florence: Volume 1, Text. London: Christie's, June 5, 1899. no. 179, p. 28, (Bardini no. 121).
Catalogue of a choice collection of pictures, antiquities, works of art of the Middle Ages and Renaissance from the collection of Signor Stephano Bardini of Florence: Volume 2, Plates. London: Christie's, June 5, 1899. no. 121, pls. 6, 44.
Wallis, Henry. Italian Ceramic Art: Figure Design and Other Forms of Ornamentation in XVth century Italian Maiolica. London: B. Quaritch, 1905. p. 53, fig. 53.
Bode, Wilhelm von. Die Anfänge der Majolikakunst in Toskana, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Florentiner Majoliken. Berlin: Julius Bard, 1911. p. 12, pl. XI.
Harris, P. S. "A Florentine Jar." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, o.s., 33, no. 7 (July 1938). pp. 169–170.
Cox, Warren E. The Book of Pottery and Porcelain. Vol. 1. New York: Crown Publishers, 1944. p. 353, fig. 536.
Riccetti, Lucio, ed. 1909 tra collezionismo e tutela: Connoisseur, antiquari e la ceramica medievale orvietana. Perugia and Orvieto: Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, 2010. no. 6.11.6, p. 425.
Syson, Luke. "Italian Maiolica Painting: Composing for Context." In Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, edited by Timothy Wilson. Highlights of the Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. p. 18.
Wilson, Timothy. Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Highlights of the Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. no. 4, p. 56.
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