CIRCA 1550, POSSIBLY WORKSHOP OF GUIDO DURANTINO (FONTANA)

Details

AN URBINO MAIOLICA ARMORIAL ISTORIATO DISH (TONDINO)
CIRCA 1550, POSSIBLY WORKSHOP OF GUIDO DURANTINO (FONTANA)
Painted with Mary Magdalene before the risen Christ in the guise of a gardener, the sky with an escutcheon enclosing a coat-of-arms and with the initials ·I· A· ·D·, the reverse inscribed Ante -
9 ¼ in. (23.6 cm.) diameter

Provenance

William Ridout Collection (d. 1933);
By descent to his sister, Miss F.U. Ridout, 80 Ferrier Street, London, included in the Ridout sale, Christie's, London, 13 December 1938, lot 54 (unsold); subsequently sold (anonymously) 20 April 1939, lot 8 (to Lady Fawcett).

Literature

W.B. Honey and F.U. Ridout, A Catalogue of the Collection of Italian and other Maiolica, Medieval English Pottery, Dutch, Spanish and French Faience, and other Ceramic Wares formed by William Ridout of London and Toronto, London, 1934, p. 29, no. 1 and plate XXVII, where it is described as Venice, and the arms are identified as being those of the Dolfini family of Venice.

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Lot Essay

The arms, or a Dolphin haurient azur, do not appear to match any branch of the Delfini family. It is possible that they are erroneous, or that they are representative of the surname of recipient of this dish. The letters on the escutcheon are presumably the recipient's initials, and it is possible that they could stand for Iohannes Antonius Delphinus (Giovanni Antonio Delfini, 1506-1561), a prominent Counter-Reformation scholar and churchman, whose career took him to a various regions of Italy including Bologna, Brescia and Venice.

The inscription on the reverse translates as 'before'.

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