Plate
- Gallery: Room 46
- Maker: Workshop of Piero Bergantini
- Made in: Faenza
- Date: 1531
- Object type: plate
- Materials: earthenware
- Museum number: 1855,1201.100
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is a beautifully decorated plate made in 1531 in Faenza. It has a slightly convex shape with a small ridge along the rim. The fine earthenware is covered in a blue-grey tin glaze, and painted with intricate designs.
Looking closely, you’ll see two winged putti supporting a shield of arms, likely representing the Salviati family from Florence. The shield features unusual coloring, with oranges rather than reds. A decorative band of "anthemion" leaf patterns frames this central image, while grotesque figures line the edge.
The plate's reverse is equally detailed, with concentric blue bands. Such heraldic plates were crafted for wealthy Italian families who were major patrons of maiolica art. This one, from the workshop of Piero Bergantini, remains part of one of the most elaborate surviving sets from 16th-century Faenza.
See it in person
Plate is on display in Room 46 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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