A small Delft Jar, circa 1650
This small white tin-glazed jar was made in the Netherlands during the mid-17th century. The shape is based on that of Italian maiolica drug jars (albarelli). The rim and neck were shaped to be covered with parchment or some other material to keep the contents fresh. Jars and pots of this type had many uses, from drug storage as a medicinal jar, to containing artists’ paints. A similar white tin-glazed jar was discovered at Burghley House, Lincolnshire, where it had been used by the Italian Baroque artist Antonio Verrio (c.1636-1707) to paint the ceiling of the ‘Hell Staircase’.
Unmarked.
Condition: Wear to the rim from use, with typical glaze losses, small chips, and crazing.
Dimensions: Height 6 cm
Delftware: The Tin-glazed Earthenware of the British Isles, Michael Archer (V&A/HMSO, 1997).
English Delftware, F.H. Garner and Michael Archer (Faber & Faber, 1972).
Burghley, England’s Greatest Elizabethan House, Lady Victoria Leatham, Jon Culverhouse and Dr Eric Till (Jarrold Publishing, 2024).
SOLD