Magnificent and very high-quality early 17th c. cylindrical apothecary jar, not only in the fineness of the clay chosen, but also in the intense cobalt-blue pigment applied on a very fine and translucent tin-white enamelled ground.

The body gently concave towards the middle, with an inward curving base and flaring rim. It is sectioned into four large vertical rectangular panels, with leaf motifs alternating with geometric patterns, ending near the base with a band of two parallel fillets.

The vegetal sections are densely filled with floral motifs of acanthus leaves, typical of Italian majolica, alternating with spirals within a lattice. The neck is decorated with a border of vertical bars.

This hybrid decoration, blending European with Middle and Far Eastern characteristics, is common in early 17th-century faience, influenced by the fine Italian Montelupo ware, that follows the Peninsular and Northern African Islamic models, decorated in a clear European taste.

Although the Moors were expelled from Portugal in the 13th century, Spain was occupied by the Muslim until the 15th century. In addition to Valencia and Málaga, which produced crockery with metallic reflections, generally known as Hispano-Moorish, there were also important production centers in the Balearic Islands, which had very intense trade with Italy.

The horror vacui, present in the obsessive filling of surfaces with geometric patterns found in Portuguese ceramics, is linked both to Islamic models and the later aesthetics of Spanish production centers.

It is possible that some of the Flemish potters established in Lisbon coming from Talavera and bringing the local influence on the city. Severim de Faria, in his Notícias de Portugal (published in 1655), states: "A few years ago a potter who came from Talavera to Lisbon, seeing the quality of our clay, began to make white glazed earthenware, not only as that of Talavera but as that of China... "[1]. (1).

At the end of the 16th century, “Spirals” motifs become very common in Lisbon’s pottery decoration. Although they are considered of Spanish origin, inspired by Granada and Valencia, they were also used in the 16th-century productions of Iznik and Chinese porcelain, both in the reign of ChengHua (1465-1485) and the Transition Period (1620-1683), in the Wucai decoration.

The chronological attribution of “Geometric Decoration”, to the first quarter of 17th century is based on similar pieces dating from this period on private and museum collections and also on archaeological finds, not only in Portugal, but also in other countries, namely the Netherlands, the British Islands, and the Hanseatic League.

TERESA PERALTA

Bibliography:

- CASIMIRO, Tânia Manuel, Faiança Portuguesa nas Ilhas Britânicas dos finais do século XVI aos inícios do século XVIII, Dissertação de Doutoramento em História especialidade arqueologia apresentada à FCSU-UNL, Lisboa, UNL, 2010, (texto policopiado).

- SANTOS, Reynaldo dos, Faiança Portuguesa, Séc. XVI e XVII, Porto, Livraria Galaica, 1960.

- MONCADA, Miguel Cabral, Faiança Portuguesa séc. XVI a séc. XVIII, Lisboa, Scribe, 2008.

- PAIS, Alexandre Manuel Nobre da Silva, “Fabricado no Reino Lusitano o que antes nos vendeu tão caro a China”: a produção de faiança em Lisboa, entre os reinados de Filipe II e D. João V, PhD doctoral thesis, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, 2012.

[1] José Meco, O Azulejo em Portugal, Lisboa, Publicações Alfa, 1993, p. 52