desco da parto

A decorated tray presented as a gift to celebrate a successful birth.  The tradition of commissioning “birth trays” derived from the Italian custom of presenting sweets to a new mother.

desco MMAGiovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi (called Lo Scheggia). Desco da parto with the Triumph of Fame.  Tempera, silver and gold on wood. Ca. 1449. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.