A VENETIAN ENGRAVED BRASS LAVER

Venice was a flourishing centre of production of brassware. Venetian merchants brought back to the city goods from the Turkish and Arab empires which had an immediate influence on the local population and eventually the rest of Europe.
The local craftsmen adopted the deep, bold engraving of the Islamic models but only very occasionally used the silver inlay that was a speciality of the Saracen artists. Other subject matter craftsmen incorporated into the decoration of vessels and dishes was characteristic of the late Renaissance style. It included flowers, busts, grotesques, sirens, birds and scenes taken from mythology
For a similar bucket see the Victoria and Albert Museum collections No.619-1865