Italian Faenza maiolica armorial albarello, circa 1550, the upper body decorated with a bust-length portrait of a bearded man in profile, within a yellow-ground medallion inscribed •TURPIN•, with an acanthus border, the waist inscribed ‘syo.agrimonia’ in blue gothic script (agrimonia eupataria: a drug prepared with the herb agrimony and thought to relieve sore throats and liver problems), the reverse decorated with a circular medallion enclosing a hound on a hill beneath three stars, the lower part with a band of flower-head medallions, within yellow band borders, The portrait may be of the late 8th century ecclesiastic Turpin, Archbishop of Reims. At the request of Charlemagne, Pope Adrian sent Turpin the pallium, thus bestowing him with the rights of the Church.
Dimensions:
Height: 28cm. (11 in.)
Condition:
Short hairline crack to neck and chips to upper rim.
Notes:
For other Faenza albarelli, bottles and syrup-jars painted with named portraits of figures from Classical history, mythology and the Bible, see Rudolf E.A Drey, Apothecary Jars, London, 1978, pp. 50-53>For a somewhat similar Albarello
