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Inkstand
Italian (probably Faenza)
about 1500
Object Place: Europe, Italy
Medium/Technique
Tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Dimensions
8.25 x 20 x 27.94 cm (3 1/4 x 7 7/8 x 11 in.)
Credit Line
John H. and Ernestine A. Payne Fund
Accession Number56.310
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
This inkstand celebrates marriage. The clasped hands record the moment of the promise of betrothal and devotion, as does the word for the marriage ring, the fede-the Italian word means "faith." The inscription reads "IO.TE.DO.LA.MANE / DAME.LA.FEDE", or "I give you my hand/Give me the ring."
DescriptionRectangular with molded rims, center upright divides box further divided at one end for ink. Top partly enclosed over end with portraits of man and wife and medallion of clasped hands with inscription in center. Stylized pattern on ends, floral scrolls with medallion portraits at sides.
InscriptionsIO.TE.DO.LA.MANE/DAME.LA.FEDE
ProvenanceProbably until 1869, Vittorio Emanuele Taparelli, Marchese d'Azeglio (b. 1816 - d. 1890), Turin; 1869, sold, probably by the Marchese d'Azeglio in Paris, to Friedrich Moritz Gontard (b. 1826 - d. 1886), Frankfurt; by descent to his son-in-law, Richard von Passavant-Gontard, Frankfurt [see note 1]; 1929, still in Passavant-Gontard collection. Jakob Goldschmidt (b. 1882 - d. 1955), Berlin and New York; 1956, consigned by the estate of Goldschmidt to Raphael Stora, New York (stock no. C-142-11); 1956, sold by Stora to the MFA for $1,800. (Accession Date: May 10, 1956)
NOTES:
[1] The provenance (to 1929) is provided in "Sammlung R. von Passavant-Gontard," (exh. cat. Städel, Frankfurt, 1929), p. 45, cat. no. 208. The inkstand is said to have been acquired in Paris in 1869. The Marchese sold parts of his collection of Italian porcelain and glass in London and Paris that year.
NOTES:
[1] The provenance (to 1929) is provided in "Sammlung R. von Passavant-Gontard," (exh. cat. Städel, Frankfurt, 1929), p. 45, cat. no. 208. The inkstand is said to have been acquired in Paris in 1869. The Marchese sold parts of his collection of Italian porcelain and glass in London and Paris that year.