Italian, perhaps Fabriano, circa 1520-40

Italian, perhaps Fabriano, circa 1520-40

Shallow Bowl

tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)

diameter: 10 in.; 25.2 cm.

painted with a female portrait in profile to the left, wearing a helmet in the form of chimera with a long, coiled neck, the armor decorated with stylized foliate scrolls on an ochre ground and with a yellow epaulet, flanked by a white band on either side of the subject bearing the legend: MARFISA BELLA, the reverse decorated with eight spirals in cobalt blue centered by the letter ‘A’.