Jim Peake
Head of Department
Lot 6
A rare Venetian or façon de Venise 'ice glass' pail or situla (secchiello), late 16th century
29 September 2020, 10:30 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £2,422.50 inc. premium
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A rare Venetian or façon de Venise 'ice glass' pail or situla (secchiello), late 16th century
Of waisted circular form applied with four gilt lion-mask prunts between two gilded horizontal raised bands, a third band forming the footrim around a kick-in base, the quatrefoil gilt and folded rim forming two pouring lips and applied with two looped lugs supporting an overhead ropetwist loop handle, 23.6cm wide including handle terminals
Footnotes
Provenance
Lady 'Lili' Maria Elisabeth Augusta Cartwright (née von Sandizell)
Thence by descent to her son, William Cornwallis Cartwright, Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire
Thence by family descent to the present owner
The form of these vessels may derive from Roman examples or from similar vessels produced in metal since the 15th century, although their purpose is debated. It is likely that many were used in religious contexts, as some late 15th and 16th century documents mention glass situlas together with aspersoriums, or specify their use as containers for holy water. However, a secular use on the table as finger bowls or coolers has been suggested. Three ice glass buckets were bought in 1572 and sent to the Duke of Mantua, Guglielmo Gonzaga, perhaps for use as such, see Rosa Barovier Mentasti and Cristina Tonini, Tools to Study Glass, in Study Days on Venetian Glass (2014), pp.21-3 for a detailed discussion.
Three similar 'ice glass' situlas with applied footrings are in the Museo del Vetro di Murano in Venice (accession nos. Cl.VI n.01167, Cl.VI n.01254 and Cl.VI n.01256). See also the example illustrated by Anna-Elisabeth Theuerkauff-Liederwald, Venezianisches Glas der Veste Coburg (1994), pp.525-6, no.678. Another is in the Musei Civici di Arte e Storia, Brescia (accession no. VT 66). An example without a footring is in the J. Paul Getty Museum (accession no. 84.DK.657), illustrated and discussed by Catherine Hess and Timothy Husband, European Glass in the J. Paul Getty Museum, pp.110-2, no.28, who state that footless examples like the present lot are uncharacteristic of situlas attributed to Venice, and that the grey tint of the metal may be more characteristic of Northern European manufacture.
