Leonardo Bettisi (Don Pino), Duke Albrecht V Bavaria's arms

Galerie Koller, Zürich, May 1990 (sale A75), lot 2009;

German private collection;

Rainer Zietz Ltd., London;

Where acquired, in November 2010.

Among the most prestigious tableware commissions for a princely credenza was a spectacular and varied set of “Faenza White” made in 1576 for Albrecht V Duke of Bavaria and supplied by the Bettisi (Don Pino) workshop in Faenza. This set was a monumental achievement with over 120 pieces of bianco, the majority of which remain in Munich (116 pieces are recorded in the 1751 inventory). Among the pieces that survive to this day, 84 are in the Residenzmuseum, Munich, and 8 are in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich. Several pieces have left these Munich collections over the years.

Leonardo Bettisi, known as “Don Pino” took over the workshop of Virgiliotto Calamelli (d. 1570) from his widow. Calamelli was the leader of “Faenza White” production, described as robba bella biancha bella (lovely, lovely white ware). Ravanelli Guidotti illustrates three dishes from this service (1996, op. cit., pp. 154-171, nos. 35-37, pp. 178-186). In addition, two dishes, from this set, are in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, one painted with A battle between Caesar and Pompey; the other with Caesar crossing a river in a boat, (J.E. Poole, op.cit., 1995, no. 341, pp. 266-267).

These so-called "pilgrim flasks" became a common feature of maiolica table services in Urbino and elsewhere from the 1530s onward. While modelled after functional vessels, they were primarily intended for decorative display on the credenza rather than for practical use. Their original caps were screwed onto threaded necks—a technically impressive ceramic innovation. Cipriano Piccolpasso described this method with admiration, noting that some maiolica bottles were made “with a screw mouth like silver flasks,” and emphasized the beauty, ingenuity, and difficulty of the technique (R. Lightbown and A. Caiger‑Smith (eds.), op. cit., Book 1, pp. 51-52).

RELATED LITERATURE

J.E. Poole, Italian Maiolica and Incised Slipware in the Fitzwilliam Museum. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995, no. 341, pp. 266- 267;

C. Ravanelli Guidotti, “Bianchi” di Faenza, Ferrara, 1996, pp. 154-171, nos. 35-37, pp. 178-186;

G. Richter, Götter, Helden und Grotesken: Das Goldene Zeitalter der Majolika, Munich, 2006, pp. 108-117.

R. Lightbown, A. Caiger‑Smith (eds.) Piccolpasso, Cipriano, The Three Books of the Potter's Art, 2007, with an introduction by Rowan Watson. Vendin-le-Vieil, Book 1, pp. 51-52.