Studio: international art (47.1909)

Hispano-Moresque Lustre Ware

FIG. 9.—PALE COPPER LUSTRE DISH WITH RAISED CENTRE (.XVI. CENT.)

bears in the centre the arms
of the Aragonese family of
Puig or Despuig. But for
this circumstance the occur-
rence of the initial Y, ten
times repeated, might be
thought to denote Queen
Isabella, King Ferdinand’s
wife, who died in 1504, a
date which should fix the
limit of the production of
objects for her use and
service. And yet, since the
Y in the case in point
cannot be ignored, it may
either stand for one of the
Puig family named Isabella,
or it may mean that one
of them was attached to
the court of Queen Isabella
of Castile. Whether or not
any significance belongs to
the thistle-like ornament
between the Ys it is im-
possible to say Nor has
the flower or fruit forming
the bearings of the shield

account as to be relegated
to the less honourable and
less important position of
the back of the dish. Both
Nos. 3 and 4, therefore,
belong to a transitional
period, nearer to the end of
the fifteenth century than
to the beginning. Both are
of considerable size. No. 4
measures 17 inches, the
other an inch or two more,
in diameter. The latter dis-
plays on the obverse a coat-
of-arms believed to be that
of the family of Cardona,
of Catalonia. Nos. 6, 7,
8, 9, 13 and 14 all bear
armorial shields. Nos. 6
and 7, charged with dol-
phins, have on that account
been supposed to be ob-
jects supplied for the
I lauphin of France. The
conjecture is given for what
it may be worth. No. 7