Calamelli Foot

This foot shaped ornament comes from one of the most important ceramic workshops in Faenza, near Bologna. Its form is copied from ancient Roman lamps made in bronze and ceramic. These ancient prototypes had high status with Renaissance collectors and were copied as lamps and inkwells in both bronze and ceramic in the 16th Century. Containers in the forms of shoes or boots seemed to have had various functions: as inkwells for the scholarÂ’s study, or as novelty drinking or dining vessels for use at wedding feasts. It is the first sculptural moulded piece from the Calamelli workshop to enter the British Museum collection.