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Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
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Buy this image as a print
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Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Albarello vase, example of a firing disaster
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Albarello vase, Italian
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Albarello vase, example of a firing disaster, showing a turbanned Arab man, unsigned, Italy, 1640
The decoration on the albarello jar shows a bearded Moor wearing a turban. Moors were Muslims from north-west Africa who conquered Spain in the 700s. The proximity of Sicily to the north African coast probably accounts for this particular design.
Albarello vases, with their characteristic hourglass shape and multicoloured decoration, originated in Persia. This shape was developed so that many jars could be put on one shelf yet each still be safely removed by grasping it around the middle. This jar shows bubbling of the surface caused by re-firing the pottery to fix the glaze to the clay.
Details
- Category:
- Medical Ceramic-ware
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A43096
- Measurements:
-
overall: 285 mm 155 mm, 1.48kg
- credit:
- Foster
