Blue and White Majolica Vintage Polychrome Arbarello

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Most common Arbarellos are found in Italy, however, this is a rare Vintage Spanish Albarello /pharmacy jar, representing the blending … Read more Most common Arbarellos are found in Italy, however, this is a rare Vintage Spanish Albarello /pharmacy jar, representing the blending of the origins of Arbarellos from the Near East culture and medieval Spain. Spanish pharmacy jars were used to store powdered medicines, herbs, and pigments. Potters in Valencia, Spain developed their own designs for the glazes and the designs combining Spanish, Gothic and Islamic symbols. Spanish Albarellos vary in shape and size, this one is a typical cylindrical shape, slightly concave in the center, with a sloped shoulder, a rounded collar with a narrow-lipped mouth, and a similarly sloped bottom leading to a beveled edge base.
The tin-glazed, polychrome majolica jar features natural, deeply pigmented colors of cadmium yellow, burnt umber, and cobalt blue on a white glazed background. The Moorish design combines hand painted burnt umber bands, a cadmium yellow, vertical geometric stylized trellis containing panels of cobalt blue Bryony flowers. In Medieval medicine the supposed magical properties of Bryony was used as an aphrodisiac or an anesthetic due to its narcotic properties.
Precise dimensions are: 12 5/8" Tall x 6 5/16" at widest point x 6 1/2" at the base. See less