A large two-handled stoneware vase decorated with cobalt blue bands adorned with swirls and stylized plant motifs, executed in reserve, marking the base and neck. At the center of the body, within a circular medallion outlined in blue, is a stylized hunting scene in which a large, fantastical deer is attacked by two canine-like animals, painted in red ochre enamel using a decorative language inspired by medieval bestiaries. The work belongs to that phase of Galileo Chini’s production in which, before the influence of the East and the great decorative works, the artist looked with particular interest to the figurative tradition of medieval Tuscany, reinterpreting its ornamental repertoire in a personal synthesis of historicist taste and Art Nouveau sensibility.

Borgo San Lorenzo (Florence); 1906/1919.