Gallery
Patanazzi workshop
Wine cooler, c.1580-1600
This Italian Renaissance wine cooler would have been used during banquets for cooling flasks of wine and would have made a dramatic addition to the meal. Wine coolers like this one would have been filled with water, snow or ice to keep the wine cold and they were often adorned with watery-themed decoration as befits their use.
If you look carefully at this object, you can see that the base is moulded in the shape of three lion's feet and that the underside is painted with fruit, foliage, birds and butterflies. If you view the wine cooler from the top, you can see three lobes with handles between them which are shaped like bearded monsters with horns. The bowl of the winecooler is decorated with a fishing scene: fishermen cast their nets into a river, while standing in boats or on breakwaters. On the banks of the river are two towns or villages, and the landscape gradually fades into the distance until it reaches some low blue hills.
Maiolica is a brightly decorated tin-glazed earthenware. After an initial firing of the undecorated piece, it would have been coated with the opaque white tin-oxide based glaze you can see beneath the decoration on the sides and underside. Then it was covered with coloured pigments which would have been absorbed immediately, allowing no room for mistakes or alterations. The piece would then have been fired again, fixing the coloured decoration and giving it a shiny finish.
The patanazzi workshop was one of the most successful of several maiolica workshops running in the small citty of Urbino at this time.
Activities, discussions and questions
» The landscape and figures you see here were taken from an
engraving (by Philippe Galle after a drawing by the artist Stradanus.) Compare the engraving with
the wine cooler. What are the similarities and differences between the
two images? What changes has the artist had to make when transferring
the image onto a 3-dimensional object?
» Pupils could take a 2-d image and transfer it onto a 3-d object
to see for themselves the things they have to consider during this process.
» The wine cooler has been broken in the past. Close examination
shows that it was once in many pieces and has been repaired; the missing
pieces have been replaced in plaster and painted over. Do you think
that we should repair old objects so that they look like new? Do you
think we should repair objects, but make it obvious which are the original
pieces and which ones are modern?
Patanazzi workshop
Wine cooler, c.1580-1600
Material: Maiolica
Dimensions: 22.5 cm x 47.5 cm
Place made: Italy
Accession No: C116
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