15th Century Italian Renaissance Bronze Medallion

An extraordinary azure maiolica dish in the Farnese service, made by Castelli d'Abuzzo between 1580 and 1589. In the peak of the High Renaissance, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese commissioned a dinner service from the Castelli maiolica...

A Neoclassical red transferware tile made by Spode 1806-1810, with the ‘Refreshments for Phliasian Horseman’ pattern. Sir William Hamilton’s Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman antiquities, first published in 1766 by Pierre d’Hancarville, was a landmark publication in English design. It intended to disseminate the Antique style through its engravings of Attic pottery. The catalog’s faithful reproductions of Classical vases led British potteries, including Spode, to adapt or even copy the ancient art for modern life. These Spode Greek pattern tiles reflect the major influence of Hamilton’s catalog on English Neoclassicism. The central scene was taken directly from the catalog. This tile can be dated to a narrow window of production in the Spode factory, 1806-1810. During that time, Spode used a technique known as the “Pluck and Dust” method to print in red transfer designs onto creamware. Using this method, source prints were transferred overglaze using tissue imprinted with a very faint rendition of the design outlined in sticky oil. The decorator applied the tissue to the object then carefully “plucked” or pulled it away, leaving the sticky oil design behind. Then, a finely-ground enamel color was “dusted” onto the surface, sticking to any areas that had the oil. A final firing at a low temperature in the enamel kiln made the pattern permanent. The Pluck and Dust technique improved upon bat-printing and enabled larger designers to be transferred. It was short-lived, however, as under-glaze transfer printing soon took over as the preferred method for producing transferwares. Dimensions: 5 in. x 5 in. x 1/4 in. Condition: Excellent. Slight chip to the upper left corner measuring approximately 0.9 cm. in length. Provenance: The Collection of Nancy and Andrew Ramage Jonathan Horne...

19th century bronze medallion signed by L.Noël in 1880.

19th Century Italian Grand Tour Portrait Medallion of Alexander the Great in Bronze, Attributed to Naples Foundry, 1st half of 19th Century. A fine 19th-century Italian Grand Tour...