Round dish with fighting lizard and snake

Art Historical Context

Manuel Mafra created this striking round dish in Caldas de Rainha, Portugal, between 1865 and 1887. Working in glazed earthenware, he captured a dramatic confrontation between a lizard and a snake across the surface of the plate. The irregular yet balanced form measures just over fifteen inches in diameter, allowing the creatures to twist and coil in vivid relief against the glazed ground. Caldas de Rainha was a renowned center for Portuguese ceramics during the nineteenth century, where potters specialized in lively, naturalistic decoration. Mafra’s choice of subject matter draws on the region’s tradition of depicting local wildlife with both precision and expressive energy. The glazed earthenware technique gives the figures a glossy, almost lifelike sheen, emphasizing the tension of the struggle while protecting the delicate modeling. Now part of the Metropolitan Museum’s European Sculpture and Decorative Arts collection, the dish offers visitors a window into Portugal’s rich ceramic heritage. Its gift in celebration of the museum’s 150th anniversary highlights the enduring appeal of these hand-modeled scenes that blend natural observation with artistic imagination.