Childbirth Bowl (Scodella) with a Confinement-Chamber Scene (interior) and Landscape (exterior); Childbirth Tray (Tagliere) with a Confinement-Chamber Scene (top) and a Cupid (bottom), Urbino (?), Francesco Durantino (Urbino and elsewhere, documented 1543-75), mid-1540s, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), bowl h. 3 3/4 in., Diam. 6 7/8 in.; tray h. 3/8 in., Diam. 8 3/4 in. Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Howard I. and Janet H. Stein Collection, in honor of the 125th Anniversary of the Museum
Selected Works
Celebrating
Betrothal, Marriage, and Childbirth
Childbirth Bowl (Scodella) with a Confinement-Chamber Scene (interior) and Landscape (exterior); Childbirth Tray (Tagliere) with a Confinement-Chamber Scene (top) and a Cupid (bottom)
Although this childbirth bowl and tray are not signed and dated, they are most likely the work of the well-documented maiolica painter Francesco Durantino. The tray fits onto the footed bowl, held in place by its inner lip. Both the interior of the bowl and the top of the tray depict a bedchamber following the birth of a child but with some interesting variations. On one, the mother is in bed with her infant, and a well-dressed man is close at hand. His presence is curious since after a birth the chamber was usually the exclusive domain of women—midwives, attendants, and female relatives.
