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A Rare Castelli D'Abruzzo Maiolica Blue-ground dish from the Cardinal Farnese Service to be sold at auction
This September Dreweatts will offer a rare and unusual ceramic find in The Fine Sale. Featured in the auction is Lot 36, this wonderful late 16th century Castelli D'Abruzzo maiolica blue-ground dish (piatto 'alla Turchina') from the Cardinal Farnese service. Ahead of the auction Geoffrey Stafford Charles, Director of Dreweatts' British & Continental Ceramics & Glass department, explains what it is about this find which makes it so rare and unusual.
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese
This Italian maiolica plate from Castelli, a town in the Abruzzo region, is decorated with the arms of a cardinal, in this case Alessandro Farnese (1520-89) of the great renaissance Farnese family. With family connections such as his, there is little wonder that he rose high through the church ranks, no doubt aided by ability, as he was the papal legate responsible for bringing peace between the warring factions of the Holy Roman Empire and France.
A Castelli D'Abruzzo maiolica blue-ground dish from the Cardinal Farnese service
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese is thought to have ordered the service sometime between 1574 and his death in 1589. He ordered a service in the Turkish manner (alla Turchina) from various workshops in Castelli and probably added to it from time to time. It is typically decorated in white and ochre enamels and gilt with the Farnese Arms beneath galero suspending tassels.
The attribution stems from excavations of blue decorated ware in the Abruzzo region. There are two more elaborate plates bearing the date 1574 to be found in the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples.
Being a service, plates do crop up from time to time but this is still rare. The current owner chanced upon it in a market on the South coast for a couple of pounds and bought it thinking that it might have merit. On finding a similar example in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, he knew it did.
AUCTION DETAILS
Wednesday 9 September | 10.30am
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE
This is an online auction with auctioneer.
VIEWING:
- Our specialists will be providing detailed conditions reports and additional images as requested.
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Our Remote Viewing Service also allows you to preview the auction from the comfort of your own home at a time convenient to you | Find out more
- Viewing will be by appointment and in accordance with Covid-19 regulations.
Thursday 3 September: 10am-5pm
Friday 4 September: 10am-5pm
Sunday 6 September: 10am-2pm
Monday 7 September: 10am-5pm
Tuesday 8 September: 10am-5pm
There is no viewing on the day of the auction.
To book a viewing appointment: +44 (0) 1635 553 553 | info@dreweatts.com
Fine Jewellery
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