A tazza (Italian for cup, plural “tazze”) is a shallow, saucer-like dish which is usually presented on a stem and foot or a plinth. Tazze often come in pairs and are frequently made of hard stone. Slate (known as marble) mantel clocks of the Eighteenth through Twentieth Centuries frequently came with a pair of tazze as a garniture (a set of decorative, flanking items). Contrary to popular-present day thinking, these objects are not candleholders—they’re not meant to hold pillar candles. They’re not meant to hold anything. They’re meant to be left alone. Though early tazze (from the Second Century B.C., for example) might have been used as drinking vessels or to serve small items of food, the tazze which come as clock garnitures are purely decorative and serve only to look attractive and monumental next to the clock.
When I purchased the
enormous slate temple-form mantel clock which sits on the mantel in my dining room, it had long been separated from its garniture. These tazze were found later at another antique store. I purchased them because their style complimented the clock and I thought they’d make a fine marriage. With incised, gilt designs and insets of rust-colored marble, these tazze date to the mid Nineteenth Century and were created around the same time as the clock. They fulfill their destiny by proudly guarding the clock, and nothing more.
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