Ring flask (fiasca d'anello)
Unknown Artist
ca. 1530–40
Medium
Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)
Dimensions
Height with spout: 13 9/16 in. (34.5 cm); Diameter: 12 3/16 in. (31 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
Italian, probably Gubbio
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.1070
Tags
About this artwork
This spectacular ring flask (fiasca d'anello) exemplifies Italian Renaissance maiolica at its most ambitious and technically accomplished. Created circa 1530-40, probably in Gubbio, this tin-glazed earthenware vessel combines sculptural form with lustrous glaze effects that made Gubbio ceramics among the most prized in 16th-century Europe. The substantial size (height 13 9/16 inches, diameter 12 3/16 inches) and elaborate decoration suggest this was a presentation piece for aristocratic display ...