Plate - Kobaltblauw bloemrozetdecor • handbeschilderd • Transsylvanië (attrib.) • ca. 1940 - Aardewerk - Earthenware

Two rosettes with a crosshatched center, interpreted as pomegranates, fill the well of this cobalt-blue wall plate. It is made of wheel-thrown redware, coated with white slip and freely hand-painted, in the tradition of Transylvanian folk pottery (attributed). A border of seven fruits and fern leaves in varying shades of cobalt blue, from inky blue to steel gray, runs around the well.

Description:
A flat 19-centimeter plate with a cobalt-blue band around the well. Two rosettes with crosshatching at their centers appear in the well, among fern leaves. Seven pear-shaped fruits with serrated centers alternate with leafy branches around the rim. In folk art, the pomegranate symbolizes fertility and abundance. The pottery is wheel-thrown; on the back are two hanging slots and an amber-colored glaze. The plate was made to be hung.

About the maker:
Transylvania had some seventy pottery centers. Corund (Korond), in the Székely Land, has been recorded as a potters’ village since 1613, with merchants selling their pottery by cart throughout almost the entire Székely Land. In this tradition, plates were painted with flowers in cobalt blue and white, or in multiple colors.

In the interior:
On a white wall, in the light from a window, the cobalt blue is the only saturated accent in the room.

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Condition:
Good, with light signs of use. Rim: a chip of approximately 2 cm on the left. Well: glaze chip at twelve o’clock, with the red clay body visible; small area of glaze loss on the right rosette. No cracks observed. The glaze is probably lead-bearing: not for use with food. See the images.

At a glance:
Material: earthenware, wheel-thrown, white-slip-coated, with cobalt-blue brush decoration under glaze
Dimensions and weight: h 2.5 x diameter 19 cm, 350 grams
Mark: unmarked; attributed based on form, technique and decoration, see Attribution and sources
Date: ca. 1940
Origin: from a private collection

Attribution and sources:
Attributed to Transylvanian folk pottery, in the Corund (Székely Land) circle. Wheel-thrown redware, white slip and cobalt-blue brushwork under glaze correspond to 19th-century plates in the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania in Cluj and to Corund work. The decoration is freely painted.

Shipping:
Professionally packed in a sturdy box with cushioning material; fragile objects are double-boxed. Always shipped insured with Track and Trace. More than 1,100 reviews from previous buyers; see the feedback.