Italian Ceramics: Catalogue of the J. Paul Getty Museum Collection

26

Lustered Armorial Plate

Workshop of Giorgio di Pietro

Andreoli, called Maestro Giorgio

(ca. 1465-ca. 1553)

Gubbio

1524

Tin-glazed earthenware with silver

luster

H: 7.3 cm [i^7 A in.)

Diam: 39.9 cm (15 iVis in.)

84.DE.11 1

MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS

On the reverse, in the center, M°G° 1524.

CONDITION

Small glaze fault on the inside of the rim.

PROVENANCE

Sold, Sotheby's, London, November 21, 1978, lot

41 , to C. Humphris,- [Cyril Humphris, London,

sold to R. Zietz]; [Rainer Zietz, Ltd., London, sold

to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1984].

EXHIBITIONS

None.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GettyMusf 13 (1985): 243, no. 173; Hess 1988A,

no. 23; Mattei and Cecchetti 1995, I 8 I; Summary

Catalogue 2001, no. 365.

THE WELL OF THIS BRILLIANTLY LUSTERED PLATE dis­

plays a shield bearing the coat of arms of the Vegerio fam­

ily of Savona (fig. 2 6B).^1 The wide rim is decorated with

four heart-shaped motifs interspersed with four dol­

phins, all surrounded by leaf scrolls. The gold and ruby

luster embellishment fills in the blue background deco­

ration, which is accented with green and black. Four

large and four small foliate scrolls in gold luster decorate

the reverse, which is inscribed in the center with the

mark for the workshop of Maestro Giorgio and the date

1524 , also in gold luster, all on a pinkish white ground.

Born near Lake Maggiore, apparently in the 1470s,^2

Giorgio Andreoli moved around 1490 to Gubbio, in cen­

tral Italy, where he became director of an active maiolica

workshop and was granted citizenship and exempted

from paying taxes and duties by the duke of Urbino. In

1519 Pope Leo X renewed Andreoli's exemptions "in

consideration of the honor which accrues to the city...

and in consideration of [his wares^7 ] great usefulness and

profitableness in revenue/^73

The Hispano-Moresque products that served as mod­

els for Italian lusterware display predominantly blue and

gold or monochrome decoration, color schemes imitated

in Deruta. Lusterware from Gubbio, however, is distin­

guished not only by its characteristic red, gold, or silver

iridescence but also by the vibrant polychrome decora­

tion upon which the lusters were fired. In addition to ap­

plying the metallic lusters that appeared after a final

reduction firing (that is, in a kiln atmosphere rich in car­

bon monoxide), Andreoli and his workshop may also

26A Reverse.

150