Images(6)

Urbino Maiolica Ewer

Maker Orazio Fontana (Italian, 1510 - 1571)

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Dateca. 1560-1570

Mediumtin-glazed earthenware

Dimensions13 x 7 x 7 in. (33 x 17.8 x 17.8 cm.)

DescriptionThis rare ewer has an unusual, remarkably animated form. Its trilobate shape is emphasized by the three handles in the form of horned grotesque masks with elongated mouths. The body of the ewer is decorated with fantastic figures and animals intertwining against a white ground.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Art Collection.

Label TextMaiolica was prized for the brilliant and refined quality of its decoration, made possible by the ceramics' tin-based glaze. The technique was developed by Islamic craftsmen and reached Italy in the late Middle Ages via North Africa and Spain. By the 16th century, Italian craftsmen began to paint detailed narrative scenes and, later in the century, grotesques, patterns of fantastic figures derived from ancient Roman wall paintings. Maiolica took many forms, including functional jars, bowls, and other wares as well as fancier works intended solely for display, such as the flask here, whose shape mimics the hollowed-out gourds in which travelers carried drinking water. The ewer is a rare surviving example of this elaborate shape; only one other is known, located in a private French collection.

Status

On view

Object number27.170