Ghislaine Howard
Sale Coordinator
Lot 1
A Spanish Hispano-Moresque dish, Valencia (Manises), circa 1430-70
7 December 2022, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £5,865 inc. premium
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Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
Sebastian Kuhn
Department Director
A Spanish Hispano-Moresque dish, Valencia (Manises), circa 1430-70
Decorated with a stylised flower pattern known as the bryony pattern in blue and copper-lustre, the centre of the well with the sacred monogram IHS in Gothic letters in lustre, the reverse with parsley leaves in blue and leaf shoots in lustre, 45.5cm diam. (restored)
Footnotes
The bryony motif is - like the ivy motif - one of the most recognisable types of decoration on Hispano-Moresque pottery. According to Anthony Ray (Spanish Pottery 1248-1898 (2000), p. 73) fragments with this motif were found in the Castell Formós, sacked in 1413, and others in the castle of Llinars, destroyed in 1448. See various dishes with the bryony flower motif in Ray, op.cit., cat. nos. 152-160.
The sacred monogram is often found in combination with this pattern and a bowl is illustrated by Ray, op.cit., cat. no. 160. It became popular in Italy as a result of the preaching of San Bernardino of Siena (1380-1444), but Ray notes that its popularity in Spain in the 1440s was probably due to his disciple, Fray Mateo de Agrigento.
