15 B-C Obverse and reverse of plate fragment. Deruta, second half of the
fifteenth century. Tin-glazed earthenware. Deruta, Museo Regionale
delle Ceramiche.
reminiscent of several objects convincingly attributed to
Deruta.^9
In particular, a plate fragment in the Museo Re
gionale delle Ceramiche di Deruta displays decoration
on the obverse and, especially, the reverse that is very
close to that on the Getty plate (figs. 15 B - c). Although
the origins of this plate fragment are unknown, it ap
pears to have been part of the original donation to the
Museo Regionale in the late nineteenth century.^10Notes
1. Roughly similar embellishment is found on the reverse of a small plate
formerly in the Beckerath collection, Berlin, attributed to Faenza of
ca. 1480 (Lepke 1913, lot 58).- One such example is a tondino in the Hamburg Museum fur Kunst und
Gewerbe decorated, however, with scrolling leaves rather than the
''eyes" of peacock feathers (inv. 1909.256; Rasmussen 1984, no. 39). - See Strocchi 1913, 105-8; Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti (correspon
dence with the author, February 1988), however, mentions Faentine
documents from which one learns that maiolica painters employed
peacock-feather decoration as early as 1460, thus predating Manfredi's
relationship with Pavoni. Therefore, although the duke might have
popularized this pattern, it could not have originated with him (see
Bettini 1991, 12-18). For a general examination of Faentine society
under the Manfredi see Gioia Tavoni 1975, 94-105. - Ravanelli Guidotti 1998, 15 3-68.
- Berardi 1984, figs. 41, 43-44, 46-49.
- Donatone 1993A, for example, pis. 5, 9, 18, 45, 76, 111-64 passim.
- Berti 1998, 243-46.
- Fiocco and Gherardi 1994, figs. 5, 24, 49-50; Busti and Cocchi 1987,
pi. VIII. - Fiocco and Gherardi 1994, figs. 23-25.
- Busti and Cocchi 1999, 145,110.29.
Dish with a Peacock Feather Pattern 89