Cobalt bowl

February 25, 2021 8:46 AM

Can you help me to find some info about this beautiful ceramic cobalt bowl?

It is marked 'Fine cobalt' and 'Made in Italy'. I'm not sure if this is just a big bowl or a washbasin? Google search found many items with similar imagery - male and female pheasant surrounded by pink and blue flowers (peonies? wisteria?). Does anybody has more info about symbolism of this picture and why is it repeated on many similar objects?
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posted by leigh1 to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

Best answer: Tree peonies and pheasants are staples of Chinese ceramic decoration. Peonies are a symbol associated with royalty, wealth and honour. Pheasants, I think, are often used interchangeably with the phoenix, as a symbol of beauty and good fortune. So this is an Italian ceramic with Chinese style decoration. Probably it's just a big bowl, unless it's old enough to be from an era when washbasins were in common use, which I think is unlikely.
posted by pipeski at 9:12 AM on February 25, 2021

Best answer: It looks like there is an italian maker Capodimonte that is at least associated with the LCS makers mark and crown. I haven't really dug too deep into it, but that might help your search. I'd also swap out 'ceramic' with 'porcelain' in this case.
posted by Think_Long at 9:18 AM on February 25, 2021

Best answer: You may want to send your pictures to Replacements, they have a service where they identify china patterns and may be able to give you some more information on it.
posted by Lycaste at 9:25 AM on February 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Here's a related vase.
posted by carmicha at 9:56 AM on February 25, 2021

Best answer: You could ask in Italian Pottery Marks, a forum "Dedicated to Italian Pottery & Porcelain from the 18th through the 21st Century".
posted by essexjan at 10:28 AM on February 25, 2021

Response by poster: Thank you all!
posted by leigh1 at 3:02 AM on February 26, 2021