Majolica dish

This plate is a relic of majolica tableware, decorated with a coloured rosette and vegetable and geometrical patterns. Majolica is tin-glazed ceramic, also called faïence, in reference to the Italian town of Faenza. In the 16th century Netherlands, such items, decorated with numerous highly-coloured patterns, were considered to be the height of luxury. The majolica technique is mainly used for tableware, ointment jars and albarelli (small vases) and for making tiles.