Hispano-Moresque Plate

Manises, Spain, Second half of the 15th century
Glazed fritware
22.5cm diameter, 3.5cm deep
Stock no.: A5862
Provenance: French private collection

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This small dish is decorated with golden-brown lustre and cobalt blue. Alternating bands of spirals and solid lustre radiate across the rim and cavetto from a heraldic shield. Three clover-like rosettes in cobalt blue are evenly spaced around the rim.
A shield outlined with cobalt blue sits at the centre of the well. The central device, a triple-barred cross and an orb, has been variously identified as the arms of the Datini merchants of Pisa and the Pazzi family of Florence.¹ It also appears to be associated with apothecaries, as several pharmacy jars (albarellos) bear this symbol. Examples can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 41.190.226) and the Hispanic Society of America, New York (no. E598). Anthony Ray identifies a letter ‘P’ inside an orb and double-barred cross as the symbol for powder.²
A similar, though larger, dish in the British Museum, London (accession no. 1852,0628.1) is dated to c. 1470. Patterned bands radiate from a shield in the well, bearing a lion rampant. Four rosettes are positioned on the rim.

[1] MCM. ‘Lusterware Apothecary Jar (albarello)’, The Hispanic Museum & Library. Retrieved online via https://hispanicsociety.emuseum.com/objects/3941/lusterware-apothecary-jar-albarello?ctx=418748c8-29ef-4878-b62d-00cb3e9de2e8&idx=7 on 30/10/2024.
[2] Ray, Anthony. Spanish Pottery 1248-1898, with a Catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: V&A Publications, 2000. p. 364.

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