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Dish

CultureItalian
Date16th century
MediumTin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
DimensionsOverall: 3 3/4 × 19 inches (9.53 × 48.26 cm)
Credit LineGift of Robert Lehman
Object number43-39/6
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 108
DescriptionDeep cream ground with moon face and sunrays. Coat of arms inside of rim probably of a monastery or a donor.Exhibition History
Italian Majolica: XV Century, Fogg Art Museum, Boston, January 15-March 1, 1940, no. 547.1939.
Gallery Label
The maiolica potteries of Italy produced a wide variety of wares for use and decoration.  The strong geometric decoration of this example suggests a Tuscan origin and is reminiscent of the wares made in the mid fifteenth century.
Provenance

Alfred Pringsheim (1850-1941), Munich, by 1914-June 7, 1939 [1];

 

Purchased at his sale, The Renowned Collection of Superb Italian Majolica, The Property of Dr. Alfred Pringsheim of Munich, Sotheby & Co., London, June 7, 1939, lot 18, through Julius Goldschmidt Galleries, London, by Robert Lehman (1891-1969), New York, no. C120, 1939-1943 [2];

 

His gift, through Harold Woodbury Parsons, to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1943.

 

NOTES:

 

[1] Otto von Falke, Die Majolikasammlung Alfred Pringsheim in München, vol. 1 (Leiden: A. W. Sijthoff’s Uitgevers-Maatschappij, 1914), no. 30, repro. plate 18. Alfred Pringsheim was a German Jewish collector. During Kristallnacht, in November 1938, the Nazi SS seized Pringsheim’s majolica collection from his home in Munich. It was stored in the annex to the Bayerisches National Museum, Munich. In March 1939, the German Ministry of Trade authorized export of Pringsheim's majolica collection to London for auction at Sotheby's, provided that 80% of the proceeds up to £20,000 and 70% of the remainder be paid to the German Gold Discount Bank in foreign currency. Pringsheim was to receive the remaining proceeds. In exchange, Pringsheim and his wife were allowed to emigrate to Switzerland. See Timothy Wilson, "Alfred Pringsheim and his Collection of Italian Maiolica," in Otto von Falke, Die Majolikasammlung Alfred Pringsheim, augmented reprint with articles by Tjark Hausman, Carmen Ravanelli-Guidotti and Timothy Wilson, Ferrara 1994, vol. 3, pp. 85-87. After the war, the Pringsheim heirs received restitution of the sale proceeds paid to the Reichsbank pursuant to a settlement agreement with the German government. See Minutes of a closed session of the Reparation Claims Office I for Upper Bavaria, Munich, March 11, 1955, Staatsarchiv München, Wiedergutmachungsbehörde Oberbayern, WB 1a 2407, copy in NAMA curatorial files.

 

[2] Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Robert Lehman Papers, box 82, folder 13. Lehman lent this dish to the Fogg Art Museum in Boston from December 12, 1939-April 28, 1942.

Published References

Otto von Falke, Die Majolikasammlung Alfred Pringsheim in München, vol. 1 (Leiden: A. W. Sijthoff’s Uitgevers-Maatschappij, 1914), no. 30, repro. plate 18.


The Renowned Collection of Superb Italian Majolica, The Property of Dr. Alfred Pringsheim of Munich, Sotheby & Co., London, June 7, 1939, lot 18.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


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