Drug Jar (Wet)
CultureItalian
Dateca. 1480
MediumTin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
DimensionsOverall: 9 × 6 × 7 inches (22.86 × 15.24 × 17.78 cm)
Credit LineGift of Robert Lehman
Object number43-39/4
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 108
Collections
DescriptionCaffagiolo jar with spout and handle. Blue-ground decorated in cobalt blue with bands of orange.Gallery LabelPharmacies were great patrons of maiolica potteries from the early fifteenth century onward. Usually housed in monastic hospitals or royal residences, pharmacies often commissioned large sets of matching jars which were displayed in rows on shelves around the walls. Each jar was marked with the name of the drug it contained. Spouted jars were used to store and dispense liquid medicine. Early examples were closed by tying parchment over the top.
With V. & L. Benguiat, New York, by November 10, 1932;
Purchased at their sale, Rare Old Velvets…Italian Majolica, American Art Association Anderson Galleries, New York, November 12, 1932, lot 442, by Robert Lehman (1891-1969), New York, no. C37, 1932-1943 [1];
His gift, through Harold Woodbury Parsons, to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1943.
NOTES:
[1] Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Robert Lehman Papers, box 82, folder 13.
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