Lot 16

THE FOUNTAINE COLLECTION OF MAIOLICA The legendary Fountaine Collection was formed by the connoisseur and traveller Sir Andrew Fountaine (1676-1753), and subsequently added to by his descendants Andrew Fountaine III (1770-1835) and Andrew Fountaine IV (1808-1873). When he inherited Narford Hall from his father in 1835, Andrew Fountaine IV compiled his first inventory of the collection.1 He noted that three pieces had been added to the collection by his father Andrew Fountaine III, and he also stated that the 'collection here was bought or exchanged for something else by Sr. Andrew Fountaine from Cosmo the 3d. Grand Duke of Tuscany, who parted with as much as he could of the collection made by Lorenzo di Medicis, Duke of Urbino, for the Royal collection at Florence'.2 Twenty or more years later he compiled another inventory in the 'Family Book', which still remains at Narford Hall. This second inventory was taken at some point between 1855 and 1873. Fountaine IV used his initials in the margins of the 'Family Book' inventory, almost certainly to denote pieces which had been acquired by him, and Moore proposed that 'the lack of a marginal note suggests the greatest probability that Sir Andrew Fountaine (d. 1753) originally acquired the item, though some exceptions are known'. The copy of the Christie's 1884 sale catalogue in the library at Narford Hall is similarly annotated with Andrew Fountaine IV's initials against various lot numbers (it should be noted that the pieces annotated in the sale catalogue are not entirely consistent with those annotated in the 'Family Book'). 1. See Andrew Moore, 'The Fountaine Collection of maiolica', The Burlington Magazine, Vol. CXXX No. 1023, June 1988, pp. 435-447, for both Andrew Fountaine IV's inventories and a concordance between the second inventory and the 1884 Fountaine sale lot numbers. 2. Cited by Moore, ibid., 1988, p. 439, from the 1835 inventory, a claim which Timothy Wilson notes is 'perfectly plausible'; see T. Wilson and E.P. Sani, Le maioliche rinascimentali nelle collezioni della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia, Città di Castello, 2007, Vol. II, p. 325. THE PROPERTY OF A FLORENTINE COLLECTOR

AN URBINO MAIOLICA LOW-FOOTED DISH

CIRCA 1565-75, POSSIBLY FONTANA WORKSHOP

Details

AN URBINO MAIOLICA LOW-FOOTED DISH
CIRCA 1565-75, POSSIBLY FONTANA WORKSHOP
The centre painted with Cupid holding a bow and arrow within a landscape vignette and a green stud and strapwork circular medallion, the broad border painted with grotteschi including owls, rabbits, nymphs, satyrs and caryatids, the everted rim with military trophies within ochre and yellow lines, the underside with yellow concentric bands, the border with an incised af and 57 Fountaine Collection inventory number (minor chipping to glaze)
10½ in. (26.7 cm.) diam.

Provenance

Probably Sir Andrew Fountaine (1676-1753), Narford Hall, Norfolk, and by descent to
Andrew Fountaine IV (1808-1873); Fountaine sale, Christie's, London, 16-19 June 1884, lot 178 (42 guineas to Mr. Colnaghi).
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 18 June 1946, lot 65.
Robert Strauss Collection; Christie's, London, 21 June 1976, lot 53.

Literature

Andrew Moore, 'The Fountaine Collection of maiolica', The Burlington Magazine, Vol. CXXX No. 1023, June 1988, p. 445.

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Lot Essay

Fountaine IV recorded two pieces which could relate to the present dish on shelf III, which held 'Small Raphael ware dishes'; number 25, which was described as 'dish with grotesque border. Cupid in middle', and number 59, described as 'Grotesque border Cupid in centre'. The present dish is listed in the second 'Family Book' inventory as number 1:57. The entries for the present dish in the 'Family Book' inventory and in the Narford Hall copy of the Christie's catalogue do not bear any annotated initials, suggesting that in all probability this dish formed part of the original 18th century core of the collection formed by Sir Andrew Fountaine (d. 1753).

For a discussion of grotesque decoration and the possibility of attribution to a particular workshop see T. Wilson, Italian Maiolica of the Renaissance, Milan, 1996, pp. 372-375.

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