Round dish with fighting lizard and snake
1865–87
Medium
Glazed earthenware
Dimensions
confirmed, irregular diameter: 3 1/2 × 15 11/16 × 15 9/16 in. (8.9 × 39.8 × 39.5 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
Portugal, Caldas de Rainha
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Wallis Katz, in memory of Marshall Katz, and in celebration of the Museum's 150th anniversary, 2020
Accession Number
2020.86.20
Tags
Art Historical Context
Manuel Mafra created this striking round dish in Caldas de Rainha, Portugal, between 1865 and 1887. Working in glazed earthenware, he captured a dramatic confrontation between a lizard and a snake across the surface of the plate. The irregular yet balanced form measures just over fifteen inches in diameter, allowing the creatures to twist and coil in vivid relief against the glazed ground. Caldas de Rainha was a renowned center for Portuguese ceramics during the nineteenth century, where potters specialized in lively, naturalistic decoration. Mafra’s choice of subject matter draws on the regi...