Antique 18th Century Italian Majolica Scallop Shell Pilgrim Flask

Details

Description

An 18th-century Italian polychrome majolica pilgrim flask, or fiasca da pellegrino, made in tin-glazed earthenware.

The vessel is modelled as … Read more An 18th-century Italian polychrome majolica pilgrim flask, or fiasca da pellegrino, made in tin-glazed earthenware.

The vessel is modelled as a scallop shell, the traditional emblem of pilgrimage. Its flattened body is formed with radiating shell ribs and raised on a flared pedestal foot. A large ring handle rises centrally above the body and is painted with a floral garland. Two projecting pouring spouts flank the handle.

The pilgrim flask has a long history, dating back to the Middle Ages and remaining a familiar vessel type in the 16th century. Originally made as a practical container for water or wine, it could be suspended from a belt, cord or horse saddle by travellers and pilgrims. By the late 17th and early 18th centuries, elaborate majolica examples increasingly evolved from practical vessels into elite luxury objects intended for social display. Members of the European aristocracy displayed such decorative majolica flasks in dining halls and on formal buffet sideboards, or credenzas, as expressions of wealth and sophisticated taste. Their elaborate forms, tin-glazed surfaces and hand-painted decoration made them particularly suitable for prominent display.

This example is richly painted in a vibrant palette of cobalt blue, green, yellow, iron-red and manganese. The decoration is composed as a deliberately asymmetric double-sided programme. One side shows an exotic bird among large Baroque flowers, leafy stems and smaller blossoms. The reverse depicts a stag standing in a wooded landscape, surrounded by flowering plants and foliage. The floral decoration continues over the central ring handle, while the pedestal foot is painted with blue and yellow lobes, red flowerheads and green foliage. The hollow interior of the base retains an unglazed terracotta edge.

Dimensions: height 24 cm; width 15 cm; depth 10 cm; weight 613 g. Condition: a circumferential crack is present, possibly an old glued repair. Otherwise in good antique condition, with no losses to the painted decoration or enamels. Please study the accompanying photographs carefully. See less