an Italian maiolica vase, bottega del maestro Domenego da Venezia circa 1560,

with globular body and short waisted neck, painted with a portrait of a Roman soldier on a yellow ground, the reverse enclosing an oval shield with the arms per fess, in chief three busts, a helmeted Roman soldier between two civilians, in base or three broken lances gules with the letters M L over R, overall a fess argent,  within a cartouche and flanked by two Roman soldiers, on a blue ground with white sgraffito and scrolling foliage and fruit in green and ochre

Rim with filled section approx 6 in. long and 1 1/4 in. deep; base just above foot broken and repaired extending into lower part of portrait with an area of re-touching and repaired crack extending across body of vase
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The arms are as yet unidentified but are also found on two items from the workshop of the Maestro, or attributed to him: a drug jar painted with a continuous watery landscape with rocks and ruins (T. Wilson, Italian Maiolica of the Renaissance, Milano, 1996, fig. 175), and a globular vase in the Fitzwilliam museum, Cambridge (J. Poole, Italian Maiolica, Cambridge, 1995, fig. 445). The latter has a very similar decoration to the present lot but is painted with two portrait medallions on the same yellow ground: one of a woman, the other of an identical Roman soldier but from a slightly different angle.

 

Maestro Domenego da Venezia was born at some time during the early 1520s and died somewhere between 1568 and 1574. He married Catharina, eldest daughter of the potter Maestro Jacomo of Pesaro from whom he inherited  the workshop, mentionned on two plates "in la botega al ponte selo per andar a sanpolo".

His workshop was on the most prolific in mid-sixteenth century Venice, yet only a few documentary pieces are extant: a globular jar signed and dated 1562 in the Muzeo Nazionale at Messina together with another one dated 1568 only; a signed dish in the HAU-M, two plates signed, dated and with his workshop's address mentionned (one in the HAU-M and the other in the Cora Collection at the MICF) ; a signed dish (Continental private collection), another one formerly at Berlin, and a signed albarello (Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt).