Rare 17th Century Portuguese Maiolica Faience Devotional Plaque – Santíssimo Sacramento

A rare and highly unusual Portuguese polychrome maiolica faience devotional hanging plaque, dating from the late 17th century.

The single-piece plaque is painted with an elaborate Eucharistic composition representing the Santíssimo Sacramento (Blessed Sacrament). At the centre is a tabernacle or monstrance containing the Host, surrounded by a radiant glory and attended by four angels.

Below is a painted cartouche bearing the Portuguese devotional inscription “LOUVADO SEJA O SANTÍSSIMO SACRAMENTO” — “Praised be the Most Blessed Sacrament”.

The decoration is executed in a striking palette of blue, yellow, ochre, green and manganese on a tin-glazed ground.

Of particularly unusual form, the plaque is made as a single polygonal piece rather than an assemblage of architectural tiles and is pierced at the top for suspension. The reverse is unglazed, revealing the buff earthenware body.

The subject closely relates to Portuguese Eucharistic imagery of the 17th century, including the large late 17th-century tiled composition preserved in the Museu Nacional do Azulejo, Lisbon.

Dimensions: 27 × 18.7 cm. Thickness: approximately 10 mm.

There are chips and losses around the edges and original firing faults, clearly visible in the photographs. No cracks or restorations.

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