Albarello
c. 1200
Description
This albarello, or medicine jar, is glazed in deep cobalt blue and decorated in yellow luster with little sheen. A band of vertical lines and stripes—perhaps meant to evoke the upright letters of Kufic inscriptions— encircles the upper half of the body, and floral tendrils occupy the lower half; in certain areas this luster decoration can no longer be seen. Repeating circular forms embellish the shoulder of the jar; the neck features vertical stripes. The blue glaze ends thickly above the foot.
Dimensions
20.2 x 12.4 cm (7 15/16 x 4 7/8 in.)
Provenance
Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (by 1973-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.
Related Artworks
View MorePale blue-green glass
Graeco-RomanBlue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue; with underglaze cobalt-blue hallmark in a double square, all within a double circle
19th centuryChineseYue ware: stoneware with celadon glaze
4th-5th century CEChineseTerracotta
6th century BCEGreekGlass
20th centurySwedishMonochrome glazed porcelain, Langyao red: porcelain with variegated copper red glaze
17th-18th centuryChineseTerracotta
1st millennium BCENear EasternTerracotta
6th-5th century BCEEtruscanPale green glass
1st-2nd century CERomanCeramic
17th centuryMesopotamianNorthern Yue-type ware: light gray stoneware with olive-hued celadon glaze over relief and appliqué decoration, the glaze streaked with blue
6th-7th centuryChineseMetal
20th centuryGerman