On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Drug Vase

ca. 1899-1900 (made)
Artist/Maker
Ulisse Cantagalli (maker)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

Drug vase of earthenware in 'albarello' style with painted decoration in yellow lustre. Nearly cylindrical with slightly concave ribbed sides, bevelled shoulder and foot, and short neck. The body is decorated with flowers and symmetrically arranged foliage in seven vertical panels formed by the ribs. Round the neck and foot are bands of geometrical ornament.

Object details

Categories
Ceramics
Earthenware
Object type
Drug vase
Materials and techniques
Earthenware with painted decoration in lustre
Earthenware
Painted
Lustre
Brief description
Drug vase of earthenware in 'albarello' style with painted decoration in yellow lustre, Ulisse Cantagalli, Florence, ca. 1900
Physical description
Drug vase of earthenware in 'albarello' style with painted decoration in yellow lustre. Nearly cylindrical with slightly concave ribbed sides, bevelled shoulder and foot, and short neck. The body is decorated with flowers and symmetrically arranged foliage in seven vertical panels formed by the ribs. Round the neck and foot are bands of geometrical ornament.
Dimensions
  • Height: 34.9cm
  • Diameter: 21.6cm
Marks and inscriptions
A cock

Note
In blue
Gallery label
DRUG VASE

Ulisse Cantagalli

(died 1901)

Manufacturer

Italy (Florence):

About 1899-1900

Earthenware
With painted decoration

In lustre

In 1878 Ulisse Cantagalli inherited a factory and began to trade as Figli di Giuseppi Cantagalli. The works, near Florence, were first established in the 1400s. His main production was of copies of Middle Eastern and European tin-glazed and lustred earthenwares. This 'albarello', a drug or apothecary jar, is based on a simple Catalonian type of around 1500 which originally would have been painted in blue on a white ground. Here, Cantagalli has substituted yellow lustre and produced a much more intricate pattern.
Object history
Historical significance: In 1878 Ulisse Cantagalli inherited a factory in Florence and began to trade as Manifattura Figli di Giuseppe Cantagalli. His main production was of copies of Italian maiolica, but also of other European and Middle Eastern ceramics. This example is in imitation of Hispano-Moresque (Spanish) lustre of the early 1500s.
Subjects depicted
Flowers
Foliage
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
1461-1904

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Record createdApril 23, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O228108/drug-vase-ulisse-cantagalli/
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