Costrel or Flask
ca. 1600-1680 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Red earthenware with marbled decoration in white slip and covered with a yellowish glaze. Tall neck and thickly flanged rim. There are two pairs of applied loops on either side designed for the passage of a cord for suspension. Each loop roughly modelled in the shape of lions' masks. Spreading foot. Red earthenware with the upper part marbled with red and white slip and covered mostly with a transparent glaze. The lower part is unglazed.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Earthenware with marbled decoration in white slip |
| Brief description | Costrel or flask of red earthenware with marbled decoration in white slip and covered with a yellowish glaze. Italian (probably Pontorme or Pisa), about 1600 to 1680. |
| Physical description | Red earthenware with marbled decoration in white slip and covered with a yellowish glaze. Tall neck and thickly flanged rim. There are two pairs of applied loops on either side designed for the passage of a cord for suspension. Each loop roughly modelled in the shape of lions' masks. Spreading foot. Red earthenware with the upper part marbled with red and white slip and covered mostly with a transparent glaze. The lower part is unglazed. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by J. H. Fitzhenry |
| Object history | Given by J. H. Fitzhenry (London). |
| Historical context | See British Museum catalogue 456 (see References) for information relating to numerous similar costrels found on sites in England, especially in London. Broad costrels like this one are widely found in north Italian slipware. Clay analysis on some examples support a Pisan manufacturing centre. Recent excavations by Anna Moore-Valeri in Pontorme have turned up fragmentary examples. |
| Bibliographic reference | Thornton, Dora and Timothy Wilson, Italian Renaissance Ceramics. A catalogue of the British Museum collection, The British Museum Press, 2009 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 351-1908 |
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| Record created | July 16, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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