Collector set to fork out £100k for plate

A RARE and previously unrecorded 16th-century plate by an important Renaissance artist, which was discovered in the attic of a Scottish country home, is expected to fetch more than £100,000 when it comes up for auction in Edinburgh next week.

The majolica plate, dated 1537, is the work of Italian Francesco Xanto Avelli, and was found during a routine insurance valuation by Lyon & Turnbull auctioneers at an undisclosed property, understood to be in Scotland.

The plate is thought to have been purchased by the seller’s family, in Italy, between 1894 and 1916. The front is decorated with a scene from the ancient Greek story of the Life of Cyrus and shows Cyrus persuading the people of Persepolis to rise up against their Median rulers.

Celia Curnow, ceramics consultant to Lyon & Turnbull, said: “I have waited more than 30 years to see a piece of this quality outside a museum.”

In his 2007 exhibition held at London’s Wallace Collection devoted to Xanto, curator John Mallett, former keeper of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, described him as “Pottery-Painter, Poet, Man of the Italian Renaissance”.

Ms Curnow said: “It is incredible that the colours on the plate are as vibrant today as when the plate was first seen in 1537. The reverse of the plate is as revealing as the front, as it is fully inscribed by the artist and carries labels inscribed by previous owners over the years.”