

Pharmacy Jar, dated 1515
Italian (Siena)
Tin-glazed earthenware (majolica)
Italian (Siena)
Tin-glazed earthenware (majolica)
H. 10 in. (25.4 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1923 (23.166)
This jar is from the pharmacy of the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, Siena. The cylindrical shape was considered to resemble a little tree trunk, hence the name albarello for this type of jar. The slight inward curve of the side would permit it to be grasped when standing among a row of closely packed jars on a shelf in the pharmacy.
The decoration is in the manner of the potter Maestro Benedetto, who was active as a majolica painter in the first half of the sixteenth century.







