Italian Capodimonte-Style Reticulated Potpourri Urn

A large figural porcelain urn with pierced decoration and gilt details

A large and highly decorative Italian porcelain potpourri urn in the Capodimonte tradition, richly modelled in a Rococo Revival taste. The baluster-form body is decorated in raised polychrome relief with classical figures beneath painted drapery, while the shoulders are flanked by sculptural female figures forming the handles. The pierced neck and lower sections are worked with scrolling foliate ornament and enriched throughout with extensive gilding. The domed cover is surmounted by a seated female finial, completing the theatrical and highly ornamental composition. Marked beneath with a crowned 'N' and inscribed 'Capodimonte, Italy' in gilt.

Later 20th century Italian porcelain makers frequently adopted the crowned 'N' associated with the Capodimonte tradition. Comparable reticulated and figural Italian porcelain pieces of the 1960s and 1970s are known with elaborate pierced decoration, sculptural figures and extensive gilding.