Dish with a Lion
Unknown Artist
c. 1430–50
Medium
tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Dimensions
diam. 28.6 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund
Accession Number
1966.19
About this artwork
This dish is representative of the rustic type of maiolica produced in Italy before 1450. The design is much inspired by contemporary Spanish earthenware. The surface of the dish is painted in a cobalt blue impasto technique known as zaffera a rilevo. Lions frequently adorn wares decorated in this technique and are particularly appropriate as a Florentine motif-they probably refer to that city's lion emblem.