Antique Majolica and Porcelain at Mackenzie Castle!

On Wednesday, June 12, at the prestigious Genoese venue of Castello Mackenzie, Cambi Auction House presents a new event dedicated to Majolica and Antique Porcelain.

To look at a majolica or antique porcelain is to discover, through the most hidden detail, the purest artistic and technical expression of masters and manufactures that have subsumed over the centuries. Lines, shapes and colors not only express the pinnacle of artists’ creative sensibilities but can tell us arcane stories, myths and allegories.

Such as our historiated bas-relief globular teapot, produced in Doccia, in the Ginori manufactory, around 1760. Against a naturalistic background stand out two scenes from a bronze plate, executed by Guglielmo Della Porta around 1550-1560, depicting the myth of Hermaphrodite and the nymph Salmace, belonging to Ovid’s Metamorphoses series.

Also taken from the Metamorphoses is the decoration of our large blue majolica dish on a berrettino background, attributable to Piedmontese production in the third quarter of the 17th century. The figures, elegantly painted on the large cavetto surface, show us the myth of Hercules and the centaur Nessus. Nessus offers to transport Deianira, Hercules’ new bride, to the other side of the Eveno River. The hero swims across it. Seizing the opportunity, the centaur attempts to abduct the woman but is wounded by an arrow. As noted, Nessus wears the shirt that, soaked in her poisonous blood, will be fatal to Hercules. In fact, Deianira believes her capable of securing the love of the wearer, according to the deceitful words of the dying centaur.

Continuing our journey through the art of Majolica, we come to the splendid pair of apothecary vases, an expression of the most valued Marche tradition. The precious serpentiform side sockets rest on relief masks; while the decoration, frontally, consists of a circular medallion within which stands the allegorical figure of Fortune standing on a dolphin in the act of clutching a sail.

We conclude with Castelli’s fine example of a “white,” an elegant cup painted in the compendium style. It demonstrates how interested people were looking at what was happening in other highly accredited “white” areas. In this case Faenza. But what gives value to this work is surely the peculiarly Castellian quality of interpreting the central theme of the medallion, in which a concise but highly effective landscape piece and a figure with fine anatomy find their place.