Drug Jar thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Drug Jar

19th century (made)
Place of origin

The sides slightly concave, tapering sharply inwards to a sloping shoulder with low, slightly offset lip; lower down, the sides slope sharply inwards towards the offset foot. Thin yellowish glaze with fine crackle coveering the buff clay, including the inside. Round the sides, painted in blue, a pattern of slight coiling foliage, two stems of which terminate in dragon heads, on which details are scratched with a sharp point through the blue. The lip, shoulder, lower contraction of the sides, and edge of jar covered with a pale blue wash, on which, at the shoulder and lower contraction, are zigzag lines between small circles in darker blue. The glaze is very thin and dry round the lip, it partially covers the recess under the foot.

Object details

Object type
Materials and techniques
Brief description
Drug jar, tin-glazed earthenware, painted in blue. Possibly Sicilian, 19th century
Physical description
The sides slightly concave, tapering sharply inwards to a sloping shoulder with low, slightly offset lip; lower down, the sides slope sharply inwards towards the offset foot. Thin yellowish glaze with fine crackle coveering the buff clay, including the inside. Round the sides, painted in blue, a pattern of slight coiling foliage, two stems of which terminate in dragon heads, on which details are scratched with a sharp point through the blue. The lip, shoulder, lower contraction of the sides, and edge of jar covered with a pale blue wash, on which, at the shoulder and lower contraction, are zigzag lines between small circles in darker blue. The glaze is very thin and dry round the lip, it partially covers the recess under the foot.
Dimensions
  • Height: 14.3cm (Note: Converted from register)
Marks and inscriptions
Transliteration
.
Object history
Bought, £40
Bibliographic reference
The decoration appears to have certain affinities with that on early German maiolica illustrations by W. Stengel, "Studien zur Geschichte der deutschen Renaissance - Fayencen", Mittoilingen aud dem Germanischen Nationalmuseum, 1911, pp.21-105; see specifically the ring-flasks, 66, 45-48; but the correspondance is not close.
Collection
Accession number
C.9-1962

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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