Plate (Child's or alphabet plate)

Description

Miguel de Cervantes’s famous tale of “Don Quixote (Quijote) de la Mancha,” first published in Spain in two parts (1605 and 1615), has been the inspiration of myriad designs, whether portrayed on paper, textiles, ceramics, or as is the case here, glass. The center of this “child’s plate” portrays Quixote’s faithful assistant, Sancho Panza, with his donkey Dapple. It is unclear if the scene directly copied an illustration in an 1852 London edition of Quixote or an earlier version published in France (Paris, 1836-37). Whichever is the case, the object shown here was produced in the 1880s by Pennsylvania’s Gillinder & Sons factory as one of a three models of six-inch alphabet plates. The other two portray, respectively, a deer or flowers. This molded colorless glass plate is of circular form with a wide nearly flat rim and a shallow central well. The underside is relief-decorated, the pattern showing through to the front in correct orientation. The design is composed of a central scene in frosted-glass, portraying a portly standing man in a hat, resting his arms across the saddle of a donkey. The bottom of the scene displays the title “SANCHO PANZA & DAPPLE,” from Cervantes’s Don Quixote (Quijote) de la Mancha. The border of the dish features the English alphabet in uppercase letters, with the Z followed by “&” and a period. Winterthur Library has in its holdings several editions of Don Quixote, including a Spanish-language edition that was published in Bostin in 1832. The museum collection includes a printed portrait of Cervantes (1966.0216.001), and scenes from Don Quixote ornament ceramics (2001.0020.003; 1969.1612; 1969.1633) and textiles (1969.3273).