ITALIAN MAIOLICA APOTHECARY PILL POT AND MATCHING COVER
URBINO DISTRICT, CIRCA 1574
£900
Auction: 22 October 2013 at 18:00 BST
Description
the squat bulbous body with a domed cover with flattened knop, painted in blue, yellow, brown, black and white in the centre within a panel the emblem of an enthroned queen with crown and sceptre below a curtain and above a label with the inscription ''.P.ANTICO.' on a ground of trophies of arms and musical instruments on a blue ground; one of the armorial helmets with the mark of an unknown monastic pharmacy consisting of a patriarchal cross flanked by the letters D O.
Dimensions
13cm diameter, 9.2cm high (without cover); 13.5cm high with cover
Footnote
Provenance:
In the collection of the family of the present owners since the late 19th / early 20th century. Entries in the family archives suggest that maiolica was acquired between 1894 and 1916 from three different sources: from G. Donaldson in 1894 (with two items bought from the Spitzer Collection) in 1896 and in 1897; from H.A. Peto in 1899 and from S.M. Crossley in 1908 and in November 1916.
Note:
For an identical pill pot and cover with the same finial probably made for the same series and attributed to Castel Durante see cat 1010 , plate 163, B. Rackham, Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogue of Italian Maiolica, 1940. Several other jars from this series are known including one dated 1574 and another dated 1575. ( Elisa P. Sani, Italian Renaissance Maiolica, V&A Publishing, 2012, cat.195, p.165.)