A striking 19th Century north Italian Polychrome decorated Maiolica mirror , Bassano, Probably Le NoveThe rectangular plate within a foliate moulded surround decorated in relief with floral sprays and shaped trellis reserves, the angles with cabochon claps, within a pierced C-scroll surround, the pierced shell cresting with mythical mask and upswept foliage.For a very similar example, see Christies sale no.1113 - the opulent eye - 500 years - decorative arts Europe - Lot 104FootnoteOne of the first maiolica factories in the Venetian mainland was a workshop established in 1728 by Giovanni Battista Antonibon in Nove, near Bassano. Following the factory''s subsequent expansion by Giovanni Battista''s son, Pasquale, and the arrival of competing workshops, Nove became an important centre for ceramic production in the region. During the nineteenth century, ceramic manufacturing was among the few industries that prospered despite the economic decline of the region, and today it remains one of the main centres of Italian ceramic production (See Giovanni Favero,''Old and New Ceramics Manufacturers, Products, and Markets in the Venetian Republic in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,'' At the Centre of the Old World: Trade and Manufacturing in Venice and the Venetian Mainland 1400-1800, ed. Paola Lanaro, 2006, pp. 271-316).