16th century Urbino majolica tazza - Lot 37

16th century Urbino majolica tazza Of curved form, resting on a pedestal, with full polychrome decoration of a scene depicting two men before a king on his throne, a bull amid flames between them, in an architectural interior, ochre fillet on the rim, restorations on the rim, chips. D. 27.5 cm Provenance : Former Henri Blay collection (1861-1920). For a bowl with a similar scene in the collections of the British Museum, London, see Timothy Wilson, Italian" Renaissance "ceramics, London, 2009, Vol.I, p.332. This scene illustrates Perillus' bull; it shows the tyrant Phalaris on his throne with the new instrument of torture created by Perillus: a bronze bull in which enemies could be cooked alive.