Mid 20th Century Italian Maiolica Sgraffito Square Tray Dish — Tuscan Folk Art

Details

Description

A beautifully hand-decorated square maiolica dish featuring an exquisite sgraffito design — the ornate pattern scratched through a cream slip … Read more A beautifully hand-decorated square maiolica dish featuring an exquisite sgraffito design — the ornate pattern scratched through a cream slip to reveal the terracotta body beneath, then enriched with painted highlights in warm brown, ivory, and touches of burgundy red. The central motif is a symmetrical Renaissance-style acanthus leaf scroll surrounding a floral medallion, framed by a bold black and cream zigzag border. Signed on the reverse: Maiolica, Italy, S.P.M./20. (Note: the aesthetic is Italian Renaissance rather than Spanish — both traditions share Moorish decorative roots, which accounts for the resemblance.)

Time Period: c. Mid–Late 20th century

Origin: Italy — marked Majolica, Italy, S.P.M./20

Design Style: Italian Maiolica / Renaissance / Sgraffito

Condition: Very good — sgraffito and painted decoration crisp and intact; no chips or losses; minor crazing consistent with age

Provenance: The sgraffito technique — scratching through slip to reveal contrasting clay beneath — has been practiced in Italian ceramic centers such as Deruta, Faenza, and Bologna since the Renaissance. The acanthus scroll and central medallion composition shown here is directly descended from 16th-century Italian maiolica design vocabulary, making this piece a direct inheritor of one of Europe's great decorative ceramic traditions. The S.P.M. mark is consistent with a numbered studio edition.

Collection: La Tropicana by DĒSSO-CŪRATED

Minor variations from the images may occur unless otherwise noted. See less