Dish

The deep dish stands on a round, spinckle-shaped foot its rim is enriched with four clay rings resembling handles it is a variation of the trunk motif known from glass art. The painted decoration is arranged centrally. There is a rosette with eight petals in the centre, enclosed by two squares lain upon each other, creating an octagon. The octagon is enclosed by three rows of eight curved fields, surrounded by a pattern plaited of plant, geometrical and Arabic letter motifs. The reverse is decorated with stripes of metal lustre and plants. The shape, ornaments and technique of the object follows late medieval Spanish-Moor models faithfully even the nineteenth century dating of the dish remains a presumption. It is possibly modelled on a piece made in Manises (Valencia, Spain) in the first few decades of the sixteenth century. A similar object is published as original in Henry- Pierre Fourest (see La Céramique Europeénne. Paris, 1983 p. 53, pict.24.). The collector of the dish, dr Vince Wartha was researching lustre technique in his collection there were samples of 15-16th century Spanish-Moor ceramics as well as nineteenth century ones. One of the groups of his collection was published in the Book of Applied Arts, edited by György Ráth (see Wartha 1905 Vol.2, appendix LXVI), without dating. The Ros Y Urgel company from Valencia was present at the National Ceramics Exhibition in 1891, with its bright metal lustre ceramics. The dish was probably purchased there by Vince Wartha.