Wide-rimmed bowl with winged putto
Medium
Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), lustered
Dimensions
Overall: 2 × 10 1/2 in. (5.1 × 26.7 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
Italian, Gubbio
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of V. Everit Macy, in memory of his wife, Edith Carpenter Macy, 1927
Accession Number
27.97.25
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite wide-rimmed bowl, created in 1526 by Maestro Giorgio Andreoli in the Umbrian town of Gubbio, exemplifies the pinnacle of Italian Renaissance maiolica. Andreoli’s workshop specialized in tin-glazed earthenware enhanced with metallic luster, a demanding technique that produced shimmering gold and ruby effects through a second firing in a smoke-filled kiln. The bowl’s elegant proportions—barely two inches high yet over ten inches across—highlight its role as a luxurious display piece rather than everyday tableware. At its center appears a winged putto, the cherubic figure beloved ...
About the Artist
Maestro Giorgio Andreoli · 1500–1550
**Maestro Giorgio Andreoli: The Luster Maestro of Gubbio** Giorgio di Pietro Andreoli, known as Maestro Giorgio or Mastro Giorgio da Gubbio, was born between 1465 and 1470 in Intra on Lake Maggiore, the son of potter Pietro Andreoli. After spending his youth in Pavia—where he was noted in documents as "son of Pietro da Pavia"—his family fled following the 1476 assassination of Duke Galeazzo Sforz...