On view
European Art
Broth bowl (Scodella) on a high foot: Birthing chamber scene,
1545–60
Italian
y1941-28
Majolica vessels, often associated with the Italian Renaissance birthing chamber, occupy the bedside in the painted scene in the interior of this scodella (broth bowl). A servant offers a covered majolica bowl to a recently delivered upper-class woman, while a wet nurse suckles her infant. The theme of nourishment is appropriate since the cup itself probably conveyed broth or other sustenance to the new mother.
More Context
Special Exhibition
This <em>scodella</em>, or broth bowl, likely once belonged to a more extensive birth set—including a tray and saltcellar—made for an upper-class Italian woman to use during her lying-in period. In the interior scene, a servant brings food in a covered maiolica vessel to the mother, while a wet nurse suckles the newborn in a rocking crib. Originally this bowl would have had a lid, now lost, to keep the broth warm.
More About This Object
Information
Title
Broth bowl (Scodella) on a high foot: Birthing chamber scene
Dates
1545–60
Medium
Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)
Dimensions
h. 10.8 cm, diam. 14.4 cm (4 1/4 x 5 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Object Number
y1941-28
Place Made
Europe, Italy, probably Urbino
Culture
Materials
Subject
William Randolph Hearst; his sale, Saks & Gimbels, 1941, #1277-3; purchased by The Princeton University Art Museum.
- Joan Prentice von Erdberg, "Italian Maiolica of the Art Museum," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 20, no. 1 (1961): p. 2-15., fig. 8, p. 12 (illus.)
- Jacqueline Marie Musacchio, The art and ritual of childbirth in Renaissance Italy, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999)., p. 139, fig. 138
