Design for a plate with grotesque decorations

In the second half of the 19th century - under the guidance of Lorenzo Ginori Lisci - the Doccia factory devoted considerable attention to the imitation of Italian Renaissance maiolica. In the years 1854-1855 some of the best painters active at Doccia were sent to copy from life examples of plates, flasks, water pitchers, and other maiolica objects preserved at the Royal Galleries of Florence, which later became part of the collections of the Bargello Museum. A major showcase for this type of production was the exhibitions held throughout the 19^th century. The first exhibition in which the factory presented samples of maiolica imitating ancient 16^th century ceraamics was the Paris Exhibition in 1855. From that moment, and until the 1870s, neo-Renaissance maiolicas became one of the Ginori’s recognized area of excellence. The success of this type of production continued throughout the second half of the century. This drawing, now part of the Museo Ginori’s Archives, is also evidence of this.

The inscription informs us that this is a copy of a 16^th century Urbino plate with a grotesque decoration, which is in the Bargello Museum (inv. 18). Since this museum was inaugurated in 1865, the drawing is certainly later. Moreover, the high number of the decorative code (1850) further suggests dating it to the 1890s. The fact that the triumph scene in the centrewas not reproduced allows us to assume that the copyist’s interest was solely to replicate the ornamental composition.