Name of Object:

Dish

Location:

Madrid, Spain

Holding Museum:

National Archaeological Museum

 About National Archaeological Museum, Madrid

Date of Object:

First half of the 15th century

Museum Inventory Number:

51110

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Clay, kaolin; firing, glazing, golden highlights.

Dimensions:

Height 4.5 cm, diameter 33.5 cm, diameter of base 11 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Mudéjar

Provenance:

Manises, Valencia, Spain.

Description:

When the kilns of Manises and Paterna were in their heyday, the fashion of the time moved towards plant themes, betraying a gradual departure from Hispano-Muslim tradition. Certain designs remained very simple and schematic, such as the dotted flowers used to decorate the bases of the pieces in the 'Hail Mary' series, so called because of their inscriptions about the Virgin Mary in German Gothic characters. The most common type, to which this dish belongs, consists of groups of between three and six large dots, circumscribed by a thin line, inscribed in irregular circular spaces formed by slender, enveloping stems. They are surrounded by tiny dots and occasionally, as in this case, there is a central circle with a cross also finished in dots. For this reasons, this type has been called the 'dotted series'.
The dish, turned on a potter's wheel, has a broad flat brim, a concave bottom and an umbo. It is covered in a creamy white tin glaze, upon which the decoration has been applied by means of successive oxidising and reducing firings. The bird is rendered in cobalt-blue with golden dots.
Although Valencian ceramicists produced different sized dishes, there is a predominance of smaller ones. Along with large examples, such as this one, there are other smaller ones with deer, gazelles, parrots, fleurs-de-lys and crowned initials.

View Short Description

This dish was produced during the peak of technical creativity of the Manises potteries, at a time when Mudéjar ceramics in Valencia began to move away from the Hispano-Muslim decorative tradition and to incorporate new motifs, such as this realistic long-legged bird.

How date and origin were established:

From its style and the extensive documentation held in Valencian archives and published by a range of different authors, including Martínez Caviró (see bibliography). The coats of arms are very important references.

How Object was obtained:

The piece was purchased for the National Archaeological Museum from Vicente Juan y Amat on 27 June 1872.

How provenance was established:

From its characteristics described above, it is unquestionable that the piece originated in Valencia. Manises was the most important centre of production, lending its name to an entire style of ceramics. Recent excavations in Paterna have revealed the existence of other similar workshops, although the pieces found so far, produced using the same technique, are of inferior quality.

Selected bibliography:

Camps Cazorla, E., Catálogo Sumario del Museo Arqueológico Nacional. Cerámica Española (Nuevas Instalaciones), Madrid, 1936, p.32, plate IV.
Franco Mata, á., Balmaseda Muncharaz, L., Arias Sánchez, I. and Papí Rodes, C., “La Documentación de las Cerámicas Valencianas Medievales en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional”, in La Cerámica de Paterna. Reflejos del Mediterráneo, Exhibition catalogue, Valencia, 2002, pp.106–18.
Martínez Caviró, B., Cerámica Hispanomusulmana, Madrid, 1991, p.152, fig. 148.

Citation of this web page:

Ángela Franco "Dish" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;es;Mus01;46;en

Prepared by: Ángela Franco
Copyedited by: Rosalía Aller
Translation by: Laurence Nunny
Translation copyedited by: Monica Allen


MWNF Working Number: SP 69