Dish with the story of Elijah

ManufacturedNevers, France

Datelate 1600s - early 1700s

MediumTin-glazed earthenware (faience)

DimensionsOverall: 4.2 × 52.8 × 42.2 cm (1 5/8 × 20 13/16 × 16 5/8 in.)

DescriptionPainters often worked from printed sources; however through the process of visual translation, the original meaning of a scene is sometimes lost on contemporary viewers. This is the case with this charger which probably illustrates an event from the early life of Christ. The scene is rendered in a style inspired by the maiolica produced by Ligurian potters – who were in turn copying Chinese export porcelain – in which the forms are first outlined in dark blue and painted with loose brushstrokes in various shades of blue. The animals amid flowers decorating the rim are drawn from Persian ceramics.

Credit LineThe Pierre Karch and Mariel O'Neill-Karch Collection

Object numberG12.14.3

Classifications

European Ceramics

Sub-classification

French Earthenware - Faïence

Collections

Status

On view