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Pharmacy jar: C.257-1991

An image of Pharmacy jar

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Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Maiolica pharmacy jar, painted in blue and manganese-purple with the name of the contents around the middle, surrounded by gadroons.

Pale buff earthenware (where visible) tin-glazed greyish-white overall. Painted in blue and manganese-purple.
Cylindrical with a convex projection above and below the main field, short neck with everted rim, and low foot.
The name of the contents, `Tro.Bo.S.opio.', is inscribed round the middle, in manganese-purple gothic lettering. Above and below are blue mock gadroons between pairs of narrow blue bands, and on the foot, three bands: manganese-purple between two blue.

Notes

History note: William Ridout; Christie's, 13 December 1938, The William Ridout collection of Italian majolica, European pottery, faience and delftware, part of lot 80; H.S. Reitlinger (d.1950); the Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead, from which transferred in 1991.

Legal notes

H.S. Reitlinger Bequest, 1950

Measurements and weight

Height: 12.9 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1950) by Reitlinger, Henry Scipio

Dating

18th Century
Circa 1700 CE - 1800 CE

Note

Savona or Albisola

School or Style

Baroque

Components of the work

Decoration composed of high-temperature colours ( blue and manganese-purple)
Base Diameter 6.4 cm
Rim Diameter 7.1 cm
Widest Part Diameter 8.5 cm

Materials used in production

Tin-glaze
Earthenware

Techniques used in production

Throwing : Pale buff earthenware (where visible) tin-glazed greyish-white overall. Painted in blue and manganese-purple.
Tin-glazing

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: Tro.Bo.S.opio.
  • Location: Round the middle
  • Method of creation: Inscribed in manganese-purple
  • Type: Inscription

Inscription present: circular with blue border

  • Text: `WILLIAM RIDOUT COLLECTION', printed in blue, and `SAV/8A' inscribed in ink
  • Location: On base
  • Type: Label

Inscription present: square

  • Text: 313
  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Inscribed in black ink
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.257-1991
Primary reference Number: 73733
Packing number: EURCER 126
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 30 April 2024 Last processed: Wednesday 14 May 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Pharmacy jar" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/73733 Accessed: 2025-12-06 16:20:49

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/73733 |title=Pharmacy jar |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-06 16:20:49|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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