A monumental blue and white maiolica charger, made by Ulisse Cantagalli, circa 1880. The charger is elaborately decorated with grotesques and putti molded in relief and a central armorial representing the Holy Roman Empire. Ulisse Cantagalli was a master of Italian Renaissance Revival maiolica, utilizing his ceramics to deploy a shared national history and visual language in the midst of the Risorgimento. This blue and white charger recalls the maiolica of Savona, with its light blue designs sketchily rendered and heavily molded grotesques and putti in high relief. Comparisons to 17th-century Savona maiolica reveal Cantagalli’s precise and expert replication as an homage to Italian heritage.
49.5cm diameter x 7cm depth