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Trilobed Basin

Workshop of: Orazio Fontana (Italian (Urbino), 1510–1571)
Workshop of: Flaminio Fontana (Italian (Urbino), active 1571–1591)
Italian
about 1565–1575

Medium/Technique Tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Dimensions Height x width: 4 × 46 × 42 cm (1 9/16 × 18 1/8 × 16 9/16 in.)
Credit Line Dr. Henry A.E. Roman and Irene Roman Fund
Accession Number2021.150
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsCeramicsPotteryEarthenware

DescriptionTrilobed basin with grotesque designs on a white ground and around a central medallion. The reverse molded with three pairs of stylized swans in oval reserves framed by scrolls and a small rosette in the center, set against a wavy blue ground in imitation of water.
Signed unsigned
Marks unmarked
ProvenanceBy 1986, Hopp family, Bogenhausen, Munich [see note]; 2015, sold from the Hopp estate to Dieter Bittorf (dealer), Ismaning, Germany; August 22-24, 2019, anonymous sale (consigned by Dieter Bittorf), Mehlis Auktion, Plaue, Germany lot 3250, to Camille Leprince (dealer), Leprince Sarl, Paris; 2021, sold by Leprince Sarl to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 14, 2021)

NOTE: In 2015, when the house of the Hopp family was being cleared out after the death of the last family member, this basin was discovered with a photograph inside, depicting the basin itself. The date printed on the back of the photo is June 5, 1986.