Certainly attributable to the peak of sculptor Urbano Lucchesi’s activity at the Manifattura di Doccia, this large vase is signed inside the mouth. It can be hypothesized that the factory’s then artistic director oversaw its creation at all stages, including decoration. His interest in developing new raffaellesque designs is well known, from which an interpretation of the motif emerges that differs from the ancient and Renaissance model, used at Doccia since the early years of maiolica production.
Our vase features a polychrome design on a white background with handles modeled as vine shoots with leaves and grapes in relief framing two masks evoking the god Bacchus. The physiognomic characterization of the latter’s face recalls the naturalism that distinguishes some figures conceived by Lucchesi for the Ginori Manufactory, consistent with his academic training as a portraitist and his attention to portraying rural life. On the painted decoration on the back of the vase body, the attributes recalling the Bacchic cult are visible: the pitcher, the syrinx, and the thyrsus.
The form of this vase was also used by Lucchesi in combination with other plastic decorations. Among these, we recall La Baccante, presented at the Ginori pavilion of the 1891 Palermo Exhibition, which features a maenad and a young faun modeled in full figure and positioned along the silhouette of the vase.
