Basin with the arms of Spannocchi

Spanish

Ashmolean Museum

circa 1480-1500

This deep dish has a central boss intended to support a ewer. It is moulded with relief ornament of crosses and radiating panels, and decorated in brilliant metallic lustre with an interlocking pattern of dense miniaturised leaf motifs. In the centre is a shield of arms, Piccolomini impaling Spannocchi (both of Siena). From the end of the 14th century, Italian merchants active in Valencia organised commissions for the rich merchant families of Tuscany.

• Medium: tin-glazed earthenware
• Dimensions: Diameter: 48.1cm
• Art Fund Grant: £8000 ( Total: £10,000)
• ArtFunded in: 2004
• Vendor: Roger Warner

Provenance

Stepney Galson family, Dirwydd Mansion, Wales probably by circa 1890; Roger Warner, 1967.

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