Wall plaque
Alcora Manufactory
(Spanish, active 1727–about 1858)
1755–65
Object PlaceAlcora, Spain
Medium/TechniqueTin-glazed earthenware with colored enamel decoration
Dimensions94 x 48 cm (37 x 18 7/8 in.)
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds donated by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation in honor of Frits Markus and the European Decorative Arts Department Fund
Accession number1999.264
On View
On viewClassificationsCeramics
Collections
This plaque, the largest produced at Alcora, was designed to hang on the wall like an oil painting. At the center are two episodes from the story of Moses, derived from a painting by the Italian artist Jacopo Amigoni, who worked at the Spanish court from 1747. The Latin inscription in the lower cartouche identifies the subject: "Moses could not endure an injury to one of his people, so he slew the Egyptian with his own hand."
InscriptionsInscribed in black enamel, in the lower cartouche: Injuriam proximi Moises/ perferre non potest,/ quare Aegyptium propria/ manu necat" [Moses could not endure an injury to one of his own people, so he slew the Egyptian with his own hand]Provenance1997, sold at Hart Gallery, Houston, Texas, September 20, lot 602, where acquired by E. & H. Manners; 1999, sold by E. & H. Manners, London, to MFA. (Accession date: September 15, 1999)
