Pharmacy jar: C.185-1991

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown (Probably)

Entities

• Pharmacy jar
• two-handled pharmacy jar
• two-handled drug jar

Categories

• Tin-glazed earthenware
• Maiolica

Description

Renaissance maiolica two-handled pharmacy jar, painted in blue, green and yellow with, on the front, a woman in a landscape surrounded by grotesques.

Red earthenware, the interior lead-glazed; the exterior tin-glazed, but applied thinly on the back and appearing pinkish-grey in places. Painted in blue, green, and yellow.
Albarello with straight sides, sloping shoulders, a short neck with a groove below the projecting rim and two handles, each composed of three rolls of clay pressed together, with upturned terminals.
The front is decorated with a circular medallion containing a woman standing in a landscape with trees and buildings. She rests her right hand on a shield, and holds a spear in her left. The medallion is surrounded by symmetrical grotesques, including dolphins, flaming torches and foliated scrolls, reserved in a rectangular blue panel. A wide label with pairs of blue horizontal bands above and below, encircles the lower part of the jar. The front is inscribed in blue. Below, and on the shoulder at the front, there are foliated scrolls painted in blue alla porcellana. The handles and rim are green.

Notes

History note: Dr Alfred Pringsheim; Sotheby's, 7 June 1939, lot 43; H.S. Reitlinger (d.1950); the Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead, from which transferred in 1991.

Legal notes

H.S. Reitlinger Bequest, 1950; transferred from the Reitlinger Trust, 1991

Place(s) associated

• Siena ⪼ Tuscany ⪼ Italy

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1991-04-29) by Reitlinger, Henry Scipio

Dating

16th Century, Early#
Circa 1510 CE - 1530 CE

Note

The jar was one of a set of pharmacy jars of which nine other examples are known, each with a different contents label. The inscription on this jar 'SLI RoI P stands for the Latin, salvia ridotto praeparatio (reduced sage preparation).

This pharmacy jar was attributed to Faenza in the unpublished third volume of the Pringsheim collection, and to Castel Durante in the Catalogue of the Pringsheim Sale, but the red fabric and bluish-green handles and rim suggest a Tuscan origin. In 1987 Wilson tentatively attributed the British Museum's jar to Montelupo, citing for comparison the grotesques on a jug which was excavated there. Luccarelli has attributed the two in the Museo Civico, Massa Marittima, to Siena, where grotesques were a prominent feature of frescos and tile pavements. The panel on the front of the Fitzwilliam's jar seems to support Luccarelli's view, for both figure and landscape are similar in style to a series of late fifteenth-century panels representing famous men and women attributed to the Master of Griselda with Neroccio de' Landi (1447-1500) or Signorelli (active 1470-1523). The pavilion and trees in particu¬lar are reminiscent of those in the back¬ground of Alexander the Great in the Barber Institute, Birmingham. Other features of the jar support a Siena attri¬bu¬tion. The form could have evolved from the large relief-blue albarelli bearing the emblem of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, although it is not certain that they were made there. A Siena or Siena area also seems to be supported by a Sienese floor tile with a comparable figure on the front. However, scientific analysis of this jar and an example in the British Museum, did not support an attribution to Siena.

School or Style

Renaissance