Manuel Cipriano Gomes Mafra
Urncirca 1865-1887

Not on view

Ceramic vase with iridescent burgundy and purple glaze, sculptural snake handles, applied lizard and frog figures in relief, and a bundled-tube neck with mossy rim

Ceramic vase with dark iridescent brown glaze, its surface densely applied with modeled reptiles including lizards and a coiling snake used as a handle, surmounted by textured green moss-like rockwork with snake heads at the rim, and a naturalistic insect in relief on the body.

Ceramic vase with iridescent glaze in deep blue, purple, and copper tones; three-dimensional applied lizards in green and brown crawl across the surface, with modeled bamboo stalks and a ribbed handle at the neck.

Detail of a ceramic vessel with iridescent brown, blue, and purple glaze, featuring applied relief figures of a green frog and a scaled reptile with textured, scale-patterned surfaces.

Close-up of a ceramic vessel surface featuring a raised relief moth or butterfly with spread wings, glazed in amber, brown, and dark blue tones with an iridescent luster glaze background.

Artist or Maker: Manuel Cipriano Gomes Mafra
Portugal, 1830-1905
Title: Urn
Place Made: Portugal
Date Made: circa 1865-1887
Medium: Glazed earthenware
Dimensions: 17 1/2 × 11 × 10 in. (44.45 × 27.94 × 25.4 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Barbara Barbara and Marty Frenkel
Accession Number: M.2013.193.5
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: During the 19^th century, there was a craze for work by the Renaissance potter Bernard Palissy (1510-1590) in both France and Portugal, inspiring interest in the originals, and the development of revival pieces in the same style.

In Portugal, manufacturing was concentrated in the town of Caldas da Rainha, where, in the 1850s, Manuel Cipriano Gomes Mafra (1830-1905) began to adapt Palissy’s style in a strikingly different direction, quite unlike that of his French counterparts. He incorporated the technique of pressing wet clay through a sieve to create the effect of moss as his principal background and expanded the subject matter, introducing narrative elements and extending the nature morte metaphor. This urn with snake handles is one of Mafra’s best-known designs.
Selected Bibliography: Esguerra, Clarissa, and Michaela Hansen. Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2022.
Esguerra, Clarissa M., Michaela Hansen, Katie Somerville, and Danielle Whitfield, editors. Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria; Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2022.

Related Unframed

Manuel Cipriano Gomes Mafra
Urncirca 1865-1887

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Manuel Cipriano Gomes Mafra
Portugal, 1830-1905
Title: Urn
Place Made: Portugal
Date Made: circa 1865-1887
Medium: Glazed earthenware
Dimensions: 17 1/2 × 11 × 10 in. (44.45 × 27.94 × 25.4 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Barbara Barbara and Marty Frenkel
Accession Number: M.2013.193.5
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: During the 19^th century, there was a craze for work by the Renaissance potter Bernard Palissy (1510-1590) in both France and Portugal, inspiring interest in the originals, and the development of revival pieces in the same style.

In Portugal, manufacturing was concentrated in the town of Caldas da Rainha, where, in the 1850s, Manuel Cipriano Gomes Mafra (1830-1905) began to adapt Palissy’s style in a strikingly different direction, quite unlike that of his French counterparts. He incorporated the technique of pressing wet clay through a sieve to create the effect of moss as his principal background and expanded the subject matter, introducing narrative elements and extending the nature morte metaphor. This urn with snake handles is one of Mafra’s best-known designs.
Selected Bibliography: Esguerra, Clarissa, and Michaela Hansen. Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2022.
Esguerra, Clarissa M., Michaela Hansen, Katie Somerville, and Danielle Whitfield, editors. Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria; Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2022.