A Cantagalli majolica ewer and vase from Florence, made around 1890 while Ulisse Cantagalli was still running the factory, and painted in the Raffaellesco style that won it a name abroad. The ewer has a heron or stork modelled as its handle, and the vase shares its baluster shape, with a scalloped rim and pedestal foot.
Raffaellesco decoration goes back to the grotesques Raphael’s workshop painted in the Vatican Loggia, which were themselves copied from the newly rediscovered rooms of Nero’s Golden House. Cantagalli’s painters kept the full cast: fantastic birds, a winged siren, scrolling acanthus and grotesques, framed by geometric ornament in cobalt blue, ochre, copper green and manganese.
Ulisse marked his wares with a crowing cockerel, a visual pun on the family name (canta gallo, the cock sings). Both pieces carry it painted freehand under the glaze, one in manganese black and one in cobalt blue, by two different hands. Neither has the “Italy” added to later export pieces.
Condition notes
The ewer is in excellent antique condition, with a few small chips to the bird handle. The vase has minor enamel chips to the upper rim and foot rim and is otherwise in excellent condition. UV examination shows no restoration or repair.
