Montelupo - Pot - Earthenware - albarello (a small apothecary jar)

Apothecary jar in majolica, decorated with "A Fogliame".

Italy, Tuscany, Montelupo, late 17th/early 18th century

A large albarello-style pharmacy jar in glazed earthenware (majolica). It has a classic biconcave shape, known as its "wasp-waisted" form, designed to facilitate handling on the shelves of antique apothecaries.

The body is adorned with a decoration of large stylized leaves painted in intense cobalt blue, arranged vertically. The shoulder and the base are outlined by horizontal blue borders. On the upper part (the neck), one observes a frieze of serpentiform motifs in antimony yellow, providing a chromatic contrast typical of Italian workshops at the end of the Renaissance.

Good overall condition for an object of this age. There is wear to the enamel around the neck and base, as well as glaze wear with crazing, which attests to its authenticity and historical use. No restoration.

Height 23 cm

(The combination of monumental blue decoration and secondary polychromy is typical of Italian productions influenced by Iberian currents in the Renaissance. Although Talavera's Spanish productions show similarities, its decoration with fogliame (blue foliage) is executed with a broad touch and cobalt in light relief characteristic of Montelupo. Unlike Spanish pieces, which often use a very opaque white enamel and more graphic outlines, here one finds the transparency of Italian maiolica and the classical use of antimony yellow on the shoulder. The foot morphology, short and marked with fillets, confirms this attribution to the workshops of the peninsula)