Italian, Vietri sul Mare
Plate: Grape Vines, 19th century
Ceramic with white lead glaze
This large, 19th Century Italian plate made of ceramic with white lead glaze, is almost flat with a slightly raised flat lip around the side. Predominantly off-white, the plate is decorated with a cluster of purple-blue grapes with two five-lobbed green leaves at the stem-end of the cluster and two, three-lobed leaves at the cluster’s top. Very fine, red spiral lines surrounding the grapes represent the stem and attendant tendrils. The raised lip around the perimeter is decorated with a continuous chain of small clusters of purple-blue grapes, with four-lobbed leaf clusters between each bunch of grapes. Fine, red slightly curved lines link the grapes with the leaves and laterally curled tendrils trail to the sides.
Tapestry Room
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.