Ink-pot with Plant Motifs

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Bronze sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Room 16

Inventory

PV 09271

Material and technique

Bronze, natural yellow patina, green-black lacquer

Author

Paduan School (?)

Dating

c. 1500-1525

Dimensions

6.5x10.5 cm.

Origin

Barsanti Collection (1934)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

This cylindrical inkwell was executed in the first quarter of the 16th century, probably in Padua. It sightly tapers at the top and its rim and base protrude; a dentil pattern circles underneath the upper lip, and a rope moulding above the base. The large central part is evenly studded, with two pairs of dolphins, who have tendrils coming out of their mouths and from their tails, positioned either side of spaces filled with fruit. The dolphins are a heraldic motif that frequently recurs in other bronzes. On the upper rim there are three holes for pens, with small decorative motifs in between, and under the base there are three more holes, one of which is covered, perhaps designed for missing bases.

 Pietro Cannata

Bibliography

L. Pollak, Raccolta Alfredo Barsanti (Trecento-Settecento), catalogue of the collection, Bergamo 1922, p. 61, no. 44; A. Santangelo, Museo di Palazzo Venezia. Catalogo delle sculture, Rome 1954, p. 48