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Apothecary jar
about 1700–50
Object Place: Puebla, Mexico
Medium/Technique
Tin-glazed earthenware
Dimensions
26.03 x 11.43 x 11.43 cm (10 1/4 x 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Denman Waldo Ross Collection
Accession Number02.325
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
DescriptionA tall, slender earthenware vessel with incurvate sides in the form of an apothecary jar (or arbarello) used for storing dry drugs or oinments, covered with a white tin-glaze and blue, green, yellow, and black decoration. The symbol at the center, set within an oval cartouche, is that of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, active in Mexico in the 17th and 18th centuries. This vessel may have been covered originally with a piece of leather or parchment tied around the top rim with a cord, as was common practice.
Provenance1902, gift of Denman Waldo Ross (b. 1853 - d. 1935), Cambridge, MA, to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 18, 1902)