Albarello Montelupo, c. 1520 Majolica. Height... Lot 1

Albarello Montelupo, c. 1520 Majolica. Height 13.8 cm. Conservation: very good@@@ some chipping at the edge of the base The albarello has the canonical form of the apothecary jar, i.e., cylindrical body slightly tapered in the middle area, low flared foot and profiled rim mouth. On the frontal area, within a circular medallion is enclosed a crowned rampant lion, facing left@@@ the medallion is inscribed in a ring with a stone at the top, while on the remaining surface wide sinuous leaves are arranged, on a background scattered with dots, discs and short brush strokes resembling leaves. Some threading is traced both toward the foot and on the shoulder of the vase. Painted in polychrome The stemmed production that came out of the Montelupo kilns includes apothecary vessels with both religious and secular insignia. To the latter belongs this valuable albarello, part of a series endowed with the same noble insignia that Fausto Berti recognizes in that of the Giraldi family ("d'argento al leone rampante rosso, coronato d'oro"), datable to 1520. The heraldic figure, is fielded with the beautiful "red" of Montelupo and is set within a "diamond" ring, while all around are painted, with all the rare effectiveness of intense manganese purple-brown, complementary motifs called the "crumpled" (or "floral-style") Gothic leaf: robes and coat of arms that we find in an albarello, which entered the Faenza Museum with the Cora donation, and in some other albarellos1, of different heights, that belonged to the same apothecary, now dispersed in prestigious public and private collections 1RAVANELLI GUIDOTTI C., Maioliche di Montelupo, Florence 2019, pp. 34 ff, Figs. 8 a-d