In Italy, small holy water stoups were commonly used in chapels, monastries and in the home. Consecrated water was acquired from a priest and as in entrances of Catholic churches still today, people dip their fingers in a stoup to trace the sign of the cross with holy water on the forehead as a blessing or to ward off evil. In the Renaissance period sometimes private homes, if they were very grand, had private chapels with everything necessary for liturgical services including holy water stoups, while others had small domestic altars. These could be for use by the whole family or for one individual or couple when they would probably be in the bedroom. Many small holy water stoups survive from the 16th century onwards. This relatively late example from the 1700s is decorated with the infant baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and inscribed with his name 'Gesu'. Possibly it was hoped that the use of a devotional object with this particular subject in a bedroom by a woman, would have the effect of encouraging the conception of a child, more particularly of a son. Traditionally the Catholic religion was a constant presence in Italian homes, with icons and images of the Holy Family represented on various media to instil a love of God and encourage all, particularly impressionable young children, towards a pious life.
The technique of making tin-glazed pottery was acquired from Islamic potters in the fifteenth century and in Italy the production of maiolica, as it was called, flourished in many centres where there was a good supply of local clays. The catalogue of the British Museum exhibition: Ceramic Art of the Italian Renaissance by Timothy Wilson, 1987 states: 'In the seventeenth century Italy lost its leading role in the development of European tin glaze and the initiative passed to France and the Low Countries. There continued, however to be a lively and varied production in several centres scattered through Italy.' The centre with the most consistent tradition was the most isolated, the little town of Castelli in the Abruzzi region, and it is thought that this holy water stoup was probably made there.