Valencia (Manises)

Water cup

Valencia (Manises). Mid-17th century

Faience, tin-glazed.

Height 4.9 cm, diameter 11.6 cm. Inv. No. 1143 II

Received in 1935 from the Polytechnical Museum, Moscow.

The cup is a characteristic example of Hispano-Moresque pottery which was produced in Spain from the 15th to the 17th century. The making of such pottery centred in the suburbs of Valencia. Valencian faiences were valued not only in Spain itself, but far beyond it as well. This shallow cup with rounded sides and two gracious flat handles belongs to the type of the so-called "scudella ab orel-les" ("a cup with ears").

The entire surface of the cup is covered with a freely applied ornamentation in which the representation of a bird is ingeniously combined with floral elements, thus creating a picturesque carpet-like effect. The ornamentation is painted in copper-red lustre which was popular in the 17th century.