If You Live In A Big House,

there will of course be lots of cupboards and drawers,

especially in a house like this, Lowood House, (photograph Lyon & Turnbull / YouTube)

and sure enough this rare, tin-glazed (maiolica) dish was discovered at the back of a drawer at the Lowood House in Scotland, (photograph Lyon & Turnbull / YouTube), experts had placed its estimated value at between £80,000 and £120,000 before it was placed up for auction on October 6, 2021, The dish was eventually won by an anonymous bidder who purchased it for £1,263,000, ten times over the estimated price, “As the auctioneer, it was a real joy to bring the hammer down at over £1 million on this incredibly rare dish – a new world record price, I believe,” said Gavin Strang, Lyon & Turnbull’s managing director and Head of Private Collections, in a statement. “The whole story of its discovery tucked away in a drawer, through the meticulous research carried out by our specialists, and then the fierce international bidding on auction day has been exciting from beginning to end!”

above is close up of the 16th century dish, (photograph Lyon & Turnbull / YouTube), the Italian dish is depicting the biblical tale of Samson and Delilah. Nicola di Gabriele Sbraghe – better known as Nicola da Urbino – was a potter and workshop owner active between 1520 and 1538. He is widely recognized as the master of the “istoriato” style of maiolica decoration, which was most popular during the early 16th century in Italy,

he dish is believed to have been made between 1520 and 1523. Lyon & Turnbull said, “his graceful fluid draftsmanship, lyrical figure drawing, understanding of recessional space and use of contemporary, classically-inspired Renaissance architectural views are all characteristic of his style” and are illustrated in the artwork present on the dish, I almost started looking in the cupboards and drawers here, but thinking about it, the only porcelain I was likely to find would have been from IKEA!