This tin-glazed earthenware plate decorated in the alla Turchesca style bears the name of a monastic sister, S[uor] Serafina, and the date thought to mark her profession – 1638. Believed to originate from the Veneto region of Italy, it is one of a pair; both are identical in design, one slightly larger than the other. Since few examples of named plates of this kind survive, with those that do each bearing different names, it is possible that such objects belonged to a personal dining set given to a woman as part of her monastic trousseau (dowry) for use or display in convent quarters. Archival records highlight that nun’s families often provided the provisions they would need for domestic life, and in some cases convents detailed instructive inventories of goods that were required on entry, such as plates, bowls and cutlery, alongside devotionalia and clothing.
However, this plate, and those similar to it, that display the ‘S’ for Suor (sister) must have been acquired by the nun at a later date, after the initial novitiate period had been served and the individual had earned her monastic title. This title, along with a new name, was bestowed upon the woman only when she became a bride of Christ. It marked a distinct change in her identity and was thus endowed with considerable personal and spiritual significance. Here it is used as a central identifying motif, inserting a sense of identity firmly within the decorative scheme of the object’s design. In its label-like quality, it operates as a clear visual marker of possession. Indeed marks of identification and ownership are common in dining ware design more generally – with imprese, familial names and arms often seen on dinner services throughout the Renaissance and early modern period. That said, the demarcating of individual wares on a person-by-person basis is quite unusual and relatively concentrated to monastic confines. For example, a variation on this design element was found in excavations in the convent of Santa Caterina della Rosa in Rome, which proffered a large corpus of ceramic plates where names had been etched into their base with a sharp implement – demonstrating an inherent urge to establish specific individual use.
There are many possible purposes of this assertion of self. First and foremost it may highlight the difficulties of ascribing to monastic ideals, an impulse to demarcate personal autonomy and therefore individual ownership of material goods. The design of the plate could contribute to its associations, as the framing banderol recalls older traditions of celebration and commemoration – that of belle donne dishes which present beautiful and virtuous women and, perhaps most importantly, the identification of saints in early manuscript sources and numismatics. The use of this device thus situates the nun and her monastic title within a recognised visual tradition associated with famed, virtuous, and often holy figures. This is particularly significant within the context of dining where members of the convent community ate together in the refectory. They did so in silence while prayers were read out, meditating with gratitude on the food they were to receive; in operation, plates such as these may have acted not only as material place settings at the communal table but as an active assertion of personal identity in the individual ritualistic process of spiritual consumption.
This plate demonstrates that contemporary concerns regarding personal identity and possession within the convent may have informed certain design elements within this specialist product market. They are, perhaps, a material manifestation of the tensions inherent in monastic ideals, suggesting the potentialities of object agency in religious environments.