Apothecary jar

This small jar, being exhibited here for the first time, bears a striking resemblance in shape and decoration to another majolica piece housed at the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia (inv. TR 51). It features a globular body, a slightly flared disc-shaped foot, a tall flared neck, and two opposing ribbon-shaped handles that originate from the central part of the neck and descend vertically to the widest part of the body. 
The colors used for the decoration on the stanniferous glaze coating are blue, brown, green and orange. The decorative theme that is repeated on the front and back is the “crumpled leaf,” which was widely used in many production centers in central and northern Italy between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and sometimes associated with the “peacock feather” and “fern leaf” (or “fan palmette”) decoration. During the sixteenth century, this shape (used for syrups) was replaced by smaller jars with a single handle and a pouring spout for apothecary use. 
On the front of the container the decorative motif leaves a large horizontal band where there is a scroll bearing the name of the medicine: “S. D CALAMENTO” (calaminth syrup). 
The two jars, part of the same apothecary set, appear to have been crafted in the same workshop, likely commissioned specifically by a pharmacy. Previously attributed to “Tuscan manufacture” without substantial documentary evidence, we propose that these jars may instead have been made in workshops in Rome or northern Lazio, where numerous Tuscan and Umbrian potters were active from the fifteenth century. A large apothecary jug housed at the Museo di Roma (inv. MR 17558), featuring similar decoration but differing in color usage, has been attributed by Otto Mazzucato to a “probable Roman workshop” (Mazzucato 1990, p. 41, n. 16).
This item has never before been displayed.

Luca Pesante

Entry published on 27 March 2025

Good.

“S. D CALAMENTO” (calaminth syrup).

Mazzucato Otto (a cura di), Le ceramiche da farmacia a Roma tra '400 e '600, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Palazzo Braschi, 30 marzo-6 maggio 1990), Viterbo 1990, p. 41, n. 16.