Plate with the Arms of Blanche of Navarre

Unknown

1427–38 · Tin-glazed earthenware · The Cloisters

The prolific workshops of Manises, near the city of Valencia, made colorfully decorated tin-glazed earthenware vessels in many shapes. Such wares were widely appreciated across Europe, but Italians appear to have been the biggest customers for them. This plate, which bears the prominent arms of Queen Blanche of Navarre (1391–1441) and her husband, John II of Aragon, was probably part of a larger service. In a letter of 1454, for example, Maria of Castile, consort of Alfonso V of Aragon, ordered just such a service, including dishes for meat, washing basins, porringers, broth bowls, pitchers, vases, and other objects to be "lustered inside and out." During the fifteenth century, Italian maiolica workshops gradually began to surpass Spanish ones in terms of quality and sheer numbers.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1427–38

Medium

Tin-glazed earthenware

Culture

Spanish

Department

The Cloisters

Credit line

The Cloisters Collection, 1956