{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1821864"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1821864/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PT9703/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PT9703/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PT9703","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PT9700","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PU1539","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PT9706","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PT9705","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PT9704","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PT9702","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PT9701","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1821864/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1821864","accessionNumber":"C.27-2026","objectType":"Dish","titles":[{"title":"Dish","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This ‘crespina’, or footed dish, was made in Faenza, in northern Italy, at the end of the sixteenth century. It depicts a scene showing three figures in the process of painting maiolica and is one of only four known contemporary illustrations of maiolica painting. Besides this dish, there is a plate in the V&A collection, made in Cafaggiolo around 1510 and probably painted by Maestro Jacopo, which depicts the painter decorating a plate under the gaze of his wealthy patrons. Another is a tile, dating from around 1487, showing the Faenza decorator Pietro Andrea painting tiles for the floor of the Vaselli Chapel in San Petronio in Bologna, where the tile is set into the floor. The third depiction is the source of much of our understanding of Italian renaissance maiolica: the unique manuscript treatise on maiolica production written by Cipriano Piccolpasso around 1557 and now held in the National Art Library. In this treatise, entitled Le tre libri dell’arte vasaio (The Three Books of the Potter’s Art), the author deals with all aspects of the making of pottery, from the raw materials to the design of the vessels and their decoration. The manuscript includes a detailed drawing showing maiolica painters at work, and it describes this process in detail, from how they make their brushes to which furniture they use to sit on and rest their vessels. \r\n\r\nThe depiction of painters on this dish is more consistent with Piccolpasso’s technical description of a pottery painting workshop than with the idealised scene attributed to Maestro Jacopo. It shows three painters seated around a table, painting vessels balanced in their laps. They sit in similar high backed chairs and on the table sit bowls containing individual colours. From the treatise we learn that the painters rest the pots on wooden pans – clearly visible on the dish – on which some tow, or unprocessed fibres, would be placed to keep them still and protect their delicate surfaces. On their boards appears an implement that is probably a spatula, a tool for scraping the glaze to create evenness or correct mistakes. One painter seems to be using a broad bristled brush, to apply the colour or perhaps dust the vessel's surface. A brazier is burning away near to them, providing light as well as warmth during this relatively sedate but focussed activity of painting. They are wearing heavy clothing and the scene is ambiguous as to whether the workshop is set inside or outside, making an interesting comparison to the Pietro Andrea tile where he is sat painting beneath a portico. \r\n\r\nAs well as the highly unusual subject matter, it is not common to find such a detailed scene on sixteenth-century maiolica made in Faenza. Around 1540 a taste emerged for wares entirely covered with a pure white tin-glaze. The style largely replaced the meticulously detailed narrative painting on maiolica, or Istoriato style, that dominated production during the earlier part of the sixteenth century. First developed by potteries in Faenza, it became known as Bianchi di Faenza. Celebrated for their brilliant whiteness, the Faenza products were exported in large quantities all over Europe. When decoration was applied to these white wares, the painting style is usually free and sketchy and the colour palette restrained, a style known as Compendiario.","physicalDescription":"Footed dish, tin-glazed earthenware, moulded and decorated with a scene of three maiolica painters at work","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"tin-glazed earthenware","id":"x30216"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"tin-glazed earthenware, moulded and painted in colours","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2026PT9703","2026PT9700","2026PU1539","2026PT9706","2026PT9705","2026PT9704","2026PT9702","2026PT9701"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES388602"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Dish","id":"AAT42973"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Faenza","id":"x39623"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1575-1600","earliest":"1575-01-01","latest":"1600-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased with the support of Sam Fogg and the Murray Legacy","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"30.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"8.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"From the collection of Robert Compton Jones","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Footed dish, tin-glazed earthenware, depicting three maiolica painters, made in Faenza, Italy, c.1575-1600","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti, 'Faenza-faïence \"Bianchi\" di Faenza' (Ferrara: Belriguardo, 1996), pp. 278-297"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti, 'Thesaurus : di opere della tradizione di Faenza nelle raccolte del Museo internazionale delle ceramiche di Faenza' (Faenza: Agenzia polo ceramico, 1998)"}],"production":"Attributed to the 'Maestro del servizio \"V numerato\"'. This work is unique within this master's body of work, known only to paint biblical or secular subjects after woodcuts.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["C.27-2026"],"accessionNumberNum":"27","accessionNumberPrefix":"C","accessionYear":2026,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-09-24","recordCreationDate":"2026-05-26","availableToBook":false}}