A typical example of the secular furnishings made using coral inlays, this tray is remarkable for its large size and the elegant ornamental design on the rim and bottom, composed of commas, little spheres and drops forming stylized floral motifs. Trays and plates like that described here sometimes had an openwork edge, but the central focus of the composition remains the boss in the form of a flower from which the whole ornamentation radiates outwards. Motifs resembling those on this tray can be found on a piece in the Museo di San Martino in Naples (Civiltà del ‘600 1984, II, p. 338), on another in the collections of the Princes of Ligne (Daneu 1964, plate 12) and are in any case common on both sacred and secular objects of the first half of the 17th century.
R. Valeriani, "A Circular Tray", in A Collection of Corals, edited by R. Valeriani, exhibition catalogue, Brun Fine Art, London, 2016, pp. 16-17, cat. no. 4
Publications
R. Valeriani, "A Circular Tray", in A Collection of Corals, edited by R. Valeriani, exhibition catalogue, Brun Fine Art, London, 2016, pp. 16-17, cat. no. 4
A typical example of the secular furnishings made using coral inlays, this tray is remarkable for its large size and the elegant ornamental design on the rim and bottom, composed of commas, little spheres and drops forming stylized floral motifs. Trays and plates like that described here sometimes had an openwork edge, but the central focus of the composition remains the boss in the form of a flower from which the whole ornamentation radiates outwards. Motifs resembling those on this tray can be found on a piece in the Museo di San Martino in Naples (Civiltà del ‘600 1984, II, p. 338), on another in the collections of the Princes of Ligne (Daneu 1964, plate 12) and are in any case common on both sacred and secular objects of the first half of the 17th century.