Noël Ribes | Paterna, XVth century

Gothic socarrat with the tanner's guild symbol

Technique: Unglazed ceramic plaque with black and red decoration

Dimensions: 3,5 x 36 x 42 cm

Condition: Excelent

Provenance: Private Collection, Valencia

Unglazed ceramic plaque with black and red decoration, featuring a cross made of trunks, symbol of the tanners guild, framed by a line of ochre and a wider black line. It comes from the old tanners' guild chapel in Valencia.

Socarrats are typical elements of medieval ceramic production in Paterna (Valencia); they were made from the late 14th century in Valencia as a mean of decorating the ceilings of palaces, where they were placed between the wooden beams as a cheaper and quicker alternative to painted wooden ceilings. Since there was no need to protect them from wear or impacts, after the clay moulding and firing, the plaques were not glazed and were simply decorated with ochre and black pigment on a lime ground.

The compositions usually included real and imaginary animals, ships, castles, human figures such as soldiers or couples, and more often plants and geometric motifs, as well as guild symbols, as it is the case here. As they are unglazed and unprotected, most of the surviving decorations on socarrats are rarely in very good condition, and usually show wear and scratches.

Good examples of Gothic socarrats can be seen in the Museo Nacional de Cerámica González-Martí in Valencia and in the Museo Arqueológico de Madrid, which conserves an identical example to this one (Inv. 60403).

Price: 2000 €

Enquire further information

For further information, please fill in this form, we will be pleased to answer as soon as possible.

How can I buy this piece?

If the price is not shown, please ask us for it using the above form, as well as for any other question or doubt you may have. We will answer you promptly.

SIn order to formalize your purchase, we will send you an email with our bank details. Once we have received your payment in our bank account (or your payment proof by email), we will immediately proceed to pack your purchase and we will send it as soon as possible to the address you will have provided. The shipping of no bulky items to Spain takes about 24h-48h to get to destination. You will find inside the parcel the invoice and a Guarantee Certificate including a technical sheet, a photography and all the information and documentation available on the piece.

Please click here for further information.