Two large and finely painted early dishes (presented by Mr. Franks) are in the British museum; they were probably made about 1480-1500. On one is a group of saints, after an engraving by Benedetto Montana, on red ground, with a border of leafage moulding and peacock’s feather ornament. On the other is the subject of the Judgment of Solomon. The colours on these pieces are very rich, with much of the characteristic red pigment; the bold and firm drawing has an archaic tendency which points to an early period. The earliest dated piece having a mark and with reason believed to be of this fabrique, is a plate in the style
of Faenza with border of grotesques and central shields of arms, in the painting of which the characteristic red is used and on which is the date 1507 with the mark; that curious combination of letters P.L and O. Another is dated 1509. The letters S. P. Q. F. occur among the ornaments. M. Jacquemart considers as of the first period, those pieces having letters allusive to the Florentine republic, or the Medici arms and emblems; or the motto of Giuliano di Medici. “Glovis” also occurs, which has been ingeniously deciphered as meaning “Si volg,” “it (fortune) turns,” if read backwards: referring to the favour shown to Giuliano when appointed Gonfalonier to the Church. A noble pitcher at South Kensington no. 1715 (p. [93]) has the Medici arms; and, beneath, also the motto Glovis. A large carelessly painted dish, in the British museum, the subject Abel’s sacrifice, has the word “GLOVIS” and the letters S. P. Q. R. on the altar, and on the reverse the name, curiously spelt, “In Chafaggilolo” between the ordinary mark twice repeated. The name seems to have been spelt in various ways, as “Cáffagiulo,” “Cafagiol,” “Caffaggiolo,” “Chaffaggiolo,” “Chafaggilolo,” “Gafagizotto,” &c.
Some of the specimens at South Kensington are of extraordinary beauty. Of the more interesting may be instanced no. 7154, lustred, having the Caffaggiolo mark painted on the reverse in the yellow pigment. The large circular dish no. 8928 on which is represented a procession of Leo X. is curious as a contemporary work and for the costume. The St. George after the statue by Donatello, no. 1726, is of great excellence, as is the interesting plate engraved above, p. [44], on which a ceramic painter is represented at work in the presence of a gentleman and lady, probably portraits of personages of high standing, as also of the painter himself. It is to be regretted that he refrained from recording their names and was content with affixing only the monogram of the fabrique at the back of the piece. The beautiful plate with central subject of Vulcan forging a wing and elegant border of grotesques, masks, cupids, &c., no. 2990, is probably by the same hand as the two last referred to and is a fine example. The large jug already referred to having the Medici arms on the front and other devices of that family, no. 1715, is remarkable for its excellence of glaze and colour, as well as for
its historical associations. So, again, is the vase no. 321 made for the Medici at a somewhat later date; and which we also engrave.
CHAPTER XI.
Siena and Pesaro.
Well-nigh all the history we have of the early artistic pottery of Siena may be read upon the specimens of her produce, preserved in our museums and private collections. A considerable number of pieces, evidently the work of one able hand, has been variously assigned to the furnaces of Faenza, of Caffaggiolo, and of Pesaro; to the first two from a general similarity in the character of their design. On the other hand, the initials I. P. occurring in large characters on the reverse of some of the pieces were presumed to be those of the words “In Pesaro,” and led to a confusion of them with others really painted at the Lanfranchi works at Pesaro and marked with the same initials but in a smaller form; standing for the signature of the artist, “jiacomo pinsit.” These last, then unknown to collectors, were cited by Passeri who was supposed to refer to the far more beautiful works now under consideration.
The acquisition, however, of a pavement of tiles from the Petrucci palace at Siena, dated 1509, and the knowledge of the existence of others of a similar stamp in the church of San Francesco in that city, the style of handling as well as the design and colouring upon which agreed closely with these works; a fine dish in the British museum in the same manner, and on which occurs one of the same coats of arms as those upon the pavement of the Petrucci; and the further acquisition of a small plate, the painting of which in blue camaïeu is assuredly in the manner of the finer examples above referred to, and which is signed on the reverse “fata i Siena da mº benedetto;” form together a chain of evidence conclusive as to the existence of this fabrique, and the origin of the various pieces in question.