Bacchanal, after Massimiliano Soldani Benzi
Eighteenth Century
This lead medal reproduces only the reverse side of the specimen with the effigy of Francesco Redi cast in bronze in 1684 by Massimiliano Soldani Benzi. It was made by Anton Filippo Maria Weber in 1744 “for use by the factory", together with the reverse of the medal depicting the Triumph of Galatea, also designed by Soldani in 1685 for Vittoria della Rovere.
Both lead pieces were used by the factory for the decoration of tall coffee cups with handles shaped like intertwined vines. The vines connect to the surface of the cups through fern leaves, arranged in a semicircle to frame the porcelain cast taken from the plaster mold of this medal.
The cast was fixed to the smooth surface of the cup with "barbottina", a semi-liquid porcelain. This technique allowed for easier variation of the decoration, as it was not necessary to create new plaster molds, as for other types of cups with similar relief decorations.
The mention in the production inventories of the Ginori factory of coffee cups with “bas-relief” decoration appears at least since 1743 (AGL, file 37, folder 2, March 1, 1743). In an inventory from 1744, distinctions are made between “bas-relief with leaves,” “with figures” and “with flowers,” while in documents from the 1750s the term “Figures in bas-relief, storied” appears. This distinction helps clarify the different types of this decoration, which falls broadly under the denomination of “storied” and characterizes the early production at Doccia. It also allows for the understanding that reliefs with scenes were introduced in the 1750s and that those taken from the reverses of medals are to be considered the first development of this decoration, followed by those with scenes drawn, for example, from Les Métamorphoses d’Ovide and created together with the cup in a single plaster mold.
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Bacchanal, by Massimiliano Soldani Benzi.
This lead medal reproduces only the reverse side of the specimen with the effigy of Francesco Redi cast in bronze in 1684 by Massimiliano Soldani Benzi. It was made by Anton Filippo Maria Weber in 1744 “for use by the factory", together with the reverse of the medal depicting the Triumph of Galatea, also designed by Soldani in 1685 for Vittoria della Rovere.
Both lead pieces were used by the factory for the decoration of tall coffee cups with handles shaped like intertwined vines. The vines connect to the surface of the cups through fern leaves, arranged in a semicircle to frame the porcelain cast taken from the plaster mold of this medal.
The cast was fixed to the smooth surface of the cup with "barbottina", a semi-liquid porcelain. This technique allowed for easier variation of the decoration, as it was not necessary to create new plaster molds, as for other types of cups with similar relief decorations.
The mention in the production inventories of the Ginori factory of coffee cups with “bas-relief” decoration appears at least since 1743 (AGL, file 37, folder 2, March 1, 1743). In an inventory from 1744, distinctions are made between “bas-relief with leaves,” “with figures” and “with flowers,” while in documents from the 1750s the term “Figures in bas-relief, storied” appears. This distinction helps clarify the different types of this decoration, which falls broadly under the denomination of “storied” and characterizes the early production at Doccia. It also allows for the understanding that reliefs with scenes were introduced in the 1750s and that those taken from the reverses of medals are to be considered the first development of this decoration, followed by those with scenes drawn, for example, from Les Métamorphoses d’Ovide and created together with the cup in a single plaster mold.
