Italian pottery dish with green, blue & ochre slip decoration in the sgraffito technique, finished with a lead glaze, the center with a roundel incised:

IHS / MAR
heart containing ‘C.B’ ,
the date 1675

set within a ‘sun’ motif of radiating triangular & curvaceous spokes, the wide rim with a band of scrolling large flowerheads & vine, the rim gently lobed, the reverse partially glazed with a narrow foot.

Italian, Squillache type manufacture, S.E. Italy

dated 1675

28.5cm wide
Good condition with minor signs of age.

A curious aspect of this piece is the central ‘sun’ motif: close-up, the ‘IHS / MAR’ is an abbreviation for Jesus and Mary; the heart contains the initials of the patron, ‘C B’, with the date either side. When viewed from a distance, this all merges into a Baroque ‘Sun Face’ – the heart forming an animated mouth, the ‘IHS / MAR’ with a ~ symbol above forming eyes and eyebrows…. surely an intentional feature planned by the potter.

These sgraffito wares in green, blue & brown are rare, with few being represented in public collections. When they are undated, they are often suggested to be much earlier than the date of this example.

A very similar decorated jug, dated much earlier, in the Met, NY: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/120023604?rpp=60&pg=5&ao=on&ft=*&deptids=12&pos=260