Platter
last quarter 16th century
Medium
Lead-glazed earthenware
Dimensions
Overall: 20 1/2 x 15 5/8 x 2 13/16 in., 5.5 lb. (52.1 x 39.7 x 7.1 cm, 2472.5 g)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
French, Paris
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Julia A. Berwind, 1953
Accession Number
53.225.52
Tags
Art Historical Context
This stunning platter, crafted by the renowned French ceramicist Bernardissy in the last quarter the 16th century exemplifies the Renaissance mastery of lead-glazed earthenware. an impressive 20½ x 15⅝ inches, this Paris-made piece from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Sculpture and Decorative collection bursts with naturalistic motifs—fish, frogs, snakes, shells—molded in high relief. Palissy's technique involved pressing real shells and casting lifelike creatures into clay, then glazing with lead for a vibrant, glossy sheen that captured light and texture, mimicking the wonders of n...
About the Artist
Bernard Palissy · 1510–1590
Bernard Palissy (c. 1510–1590), born to a poor family in the Saintonge region of France—possibly in Saintes, Périgord, or near Agen—began his career apprenticed to a glass painter before becoming a wandering journeyman portrait painter, glassworker, and land surveyor across France, the Low Countries, and Italy. He learned the rudiments of pottery in La Chapelle-des-Pots and settled in Saintes as a...